Lawfare Op-ed: A Better Way to Use Sanctions in Africa

Note: This op-ed originally appeared in Lawfare and was written by Hilary Mossberg,  AML/CFT Advisor for Africa for The Sentry.

Few things are as constitutive of the Western foreign policy orthodoxy toward Africa as sanctions. Sanctions programs abound in the continent, yet they frequently fall short of their goals. We propose some ways to recapture the foreign policy value of sanctions.

In recent weeks, both Sudan and Zimbabwe have experienced dramatic political changes—Sudan has a new transitional government, and Zimbabwe navigates the death of its longtime and controversial president, Robert Mugabe. The twin political shifts offer an occasion to revisit the sanctions regimes against these countries and reflect on the effectiveness of sanctions programs more broadly. After many years of sanctions against sub-Saharan African countries, what lessons can be learned?…

Click here to read the full op-ed.