Five Lessons from a Sanctions Practitioner

This week, Enough Project released a policy brief, “Five Lessons from a Sanctions Practitioner,” by renowned threat finance specialist Peter Harrell. The brief argues that, done right, sanctions can have enormous impact.

Sanctions have forced adversaries to the negotiating table, frozen the assets of warlords and kleptocrats, and deterred rogue states and rogue leaders from breaking global rules. But when executed poorly, sanctions can be little more than a symbolic tool that may give the appearance of “doing something” but which have little practical impact and, in the worst cases, may actually embolden the target to continue the negative activity.

Having worked on and researched sanctions for almost a decade, Harrell draws on his experience to provide five key lessons that can guide policymakers and also enable activists to advocate for smarter and more effective approaches.

Click here to read the policy brief.

 

The Sentry is an initiative of the Enough Project and Not On Our Watch (NOOW), with its implementing partner C4ADS.