|
The Facts:
- Economic sanctions are deliberate, government-led suspensions
of economic relations with another country. For example, an economically
sanctioned country will be prohibited from trading with or receiving
investment from the countries sanctioning them.
- There were 115 cases of economic sanctions between the end
of World War II and 1990. Of those 115 cases, only 34% have been
judged as partially successful in achieving their stated aim.
- The success rate of economic sanctions has decreased significantly
since 1973.
- The United States placed 77 of the 115 economic sanctions between
the end of World War II and 1990.
- The types of economic sanctions with the highest success rate
were those aiming to destabilize a country. Those with the lowest
success rates were those aiming to impair the sanctioned country’s
military capabilities.
- In most cases economic sanctions do more harm to the people
living in the sanctioned country than the sanctioned government.
In the case of Iraq, the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S.
and U.N. have created one of the largest humanitarian crises in
the world. According to UNICEF, one in five Iraqi children are
chronically malnourished. The levels of contamination were more
than ten times the acceptable levels in 40% of Iraq’s water.
|