Ethics of Sanctions

International sanctions have long been a strategic tool used by nations to address perceived wrongdoings by other states.

The primary goals of sanctions are usually to enforce international law, uphold human rights, counter threats to international peace, or at least impair the target state’s ability to effectively continue such infractions without resorting to military force.

Sanctions can be effective in various ways, although their success is heavily context-dependent. Economic sanctions, such as trade embargoes, can create domestic pressure within the targeted nation, prompting political changes or negatively affecting the economy, sanctions can also make it harder for the target nation to fund the activities that sanctioning countries disagree with. Sanctions can also stigmatize a country, isolating it from international partnerships and negotiations. They serve as a diplomatic signal, highlighting a nation's transgressions and rallying international support for a course of action.

Despite their strategic use, the burden of sanctions often falls on the most vulnerable populations within the targeted nation. While the intended aim might be to put pressure on a government or a ruling elite, ordinary citizens can suffer the most, experiencing shortages of food, medicine, or other vital goods.

Determining the ethics of sanctions can be complex, as the moral frameworks to be applied may vary. One such framework is consequentialism, which judges an action by its outcomes. From this perspective, if sanctions lead to an improved human rights situation or prevent conflict on a larger scale, they could be seen as morally justified, despite the potential harm to civilians. On the other hand, deontological ethics, which judges actions based on their inherent rightness or wrongness, might reject sanctions that harm innocent people, regardless of their effectiveness.

From the epistemic point of view, it’s always difficult to know how effective sanctions will be to stop or significantly affect the undesirable activities of the target state until they are applied, while the cost of human suffering is always certain at least to some extent and to both sides of the conflict.

Questions we will be tackling at this event:

What are the goals of sanctions?

In what ways are Sanctions effective?

Who do sanctions hurt?

What moral framework should we use to determine the ethics of sanctions?