The Art of Sanctions
The Art of Sanctions: A View from the Field is a 2017 book written by Richard Nephew. It discusses the role of sanctions as a foreign policy tool. Nephew’s framework rests on how targets respond to sanctions according to two central variables: pain and resolve. He argues that a sanctions regime is most effective when it inflicts as much pain as is sustainable, meaning when further escalation would produce little incremental effect. In the case of Iran, the author believes that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was not a product solely of economic coercion, but rather of negotiation made possible by a successful sanctions strategy.
Richard Nephew is an adjunct professor and senior research scholar and program director at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy since 1 February 2015. He also was serving as the lead sanctions expert for the U.S. team negotiating with Iran between August 2013 to December 2014. The book has been used as a guideline among the high level U.S. politicians since it was published. The book was translated to Persian in Iran in mid 2018.
Synopsis
Governments, international organizations and nations are increasingly turning to sanctions as a foreign policy tool. Sanctions will lose their efficiency, changing the behavior of the target entity, if they are used without a clear strategy. "The Art of Sanctions" offers a series of acts that can improve the efficiency of sanctions, such as a framework for planning and applying sanctions.Nephew introduces sanctions as a strategic tool in U.S. foreign policy and explains them as an art whose efficacy depends on decision makers' creativity and their manipulation of using the economic, social and political tools as the sanction's tools. He illustrates that sanctions often prohibit the export of ordinary goods to the target country, while restrictions on luxury goods can undermine the public’s sense of normalcy and social morale. For example, the rise in chicken prices in Iran - a product not directly sanctioned - intensified the perceived pressure of sanctions among the population. The controlled export of certain goods to Iran forced the government to spend its foreign currency reserves, draining them and amplifying the sanctions’ overall impact.
Pain and resolve are two key variables of sanctions; the relationship between a target's ability to resolve the pain and pressure of the sanctions is the most important factor for politicians. Nephew believes the efficacy of sanctions relies on the use of pain against a target, while the target may decide to resolve, resist or deactivate this pain. Finding the role of pain and resolve is important in using sanctions successfully. Considering these two factors and finding their sensitivity during the sanction's course helps policy makers or politicians to calibrate, ease or remove the sanction's pressure.
Reception
Daniel Fried, a former U.S. diplomat, wrote about the book; "Nephew has manipulated a practical book about the sanction. Everybody who concerned about North Korea, Russia and Iran, should read this book."Robert Einhorn, a former senior adviser of the U.S. State Department's Nonproliferation Bureau and a member of the Brookings Institution, wrote; "Nephew has written an interesting book according his experiences as an American negotiator and sanction's plan creator. Sanctions have become a critical tool for U.S. foreign policy system and this book must be read by governors and experts who work on North Korea, Iran and Russia. The book is a great guide for who want to create sanctions against the countries that challenge our national security, too."
Dennis Ross, an adviser to Barack Obama, said Nephew's "viewpoints and conclusions are highly valuable, and can help many policy makers, too".