Will Renewed ‘Maximum Pressure’ Sanctions Yield Maximum Results? Not Likely.
In recent years new factors such as the emergence of cryptocurrency and blockchain as well as other developments in the international political economy have made it even less likely for maximum pressure sanctions to succeed or have their desired effect. In this article published in Just Security George A. Lopez outlines the various new and […]
A Model Humanitarian Checklist for Sanctions Units
The Model Humanitarian Checklist for Sanctions Units was created for governments and intergovernmental bodies to use as guidance prior to imposing sanctions and during periodic reviews after their imposition. Funded by the Government of Canada, it is designed to assist sanctions’ imposers to identify and, in turn, mitigate unintended humanitarian consequences. It aims to be […]
Kamala Harris’ North Korea Strategy: Can Bold Moves Break the Stalemate with Kim Jong-un?
Published on September 19, 2024 in The National Interest, George A. Lopez, professor and member of the United Nations Panel of Experts (1894) on North Korea for 2010-11 and 2022-23, outlines three major actions potential President Kamala Harris should take to compel Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) leader, Kim Jong-un, to engage in sustained […]
Toward a Global Sanctions Compact for Long-Overdue Reform
In this recently-published article in Just Security, AHSR team members George A. Lopez, Alistair Millar, and Erica Moret share their model sanctions checklist and code of conduct that the team developed as part of a sanctions reform effort to improve efficacy and minimize humanitarian harm. Click here to read the full article.
Working Bibliography: Scholarship, Think-Tank, United Nations, and NGO Reports on the Humanitarian and Human Rights Impacts of Economic Sanctions (2019-2024)
This bibliography is provided as a resource for scholars, policymakers, and journalists and it will be updated periodically. We encourage specialists and users to alert us to new thematically appropriate material that should appear in updates of this bibliography. The bibliography was authored by Beatrix Geaghan-Breiner until June 2022 and thereafter by Audrey Thill with […]
Wilton Park 2023 Conference Report: A New Code of Conduct: Taking Sanctions Reform Further to Advance Humanitarianism
Held in May 2023, a second Wilton Park conference was conducted in association with Fourth Freedom Forum’s project on Advancing Humanitarianism through Sanctions Refinement (AHSR) and Open Society Foundations (OSF), with support from the Government of Mexico and Government of the Netherlands, and it aimed to afford an opportunity for a diverse group of stakeholders […]
Coercion and Inequality: The distributional effects of sanctions in Iran
Published in Phenomenal World, authors Esfandyar Batmanghelidj and Zep Kalb take a look at the “distributional effects” of sanctions and whether they actually facilitate greater economic inequality and the concentration of wealth among the elite in Iran. They argue that to really understand sanctions, one must investigate how actors in a complex system relate to […]
The Role of Civil Society in Advancing Humanitarianism through Sanctions Reform: Discussion Paper for the AHSR Wilton Park Conference
This discussion paper by Delaney Simon explores recent reforms undertaken by states and how policymakers may use a ‘checklist’ and ‘code of conduct’ to reduce the collateral damage of sanctions regimes and evaluate the competing claims from passionate advocates for reform who are pleading with the outside world to ‘do something’ about a ruthless regime […]
AHSR Concept Note
A multistakeholder engagement was established in 2022 to undertake research and generate a set of voluntary principles to ensure that negative humanitarian impacts associated with sanctions and related regulations are mitigated and minimized. The AHSR team recognizes that targeted sanctions are vital for upholding norms and promoting international peace and security. When carefully designed and […]
Safeguarding Humanitarian Banking Channels: How, Why and by Whom?
Published by the Norwegian Refugee Council in January 2023, this report by Dr. Erica Moret seeks to fill a knowledge gap on financial sector derisking, focusing on potential remedies and solutions that governments, international organisations, the financial sector and other stakeholders could adopt. It is based on outcomes from a closed expert practitioner workshop held […]