Backfire

How Sanctions Reshape the World Against U.S. Interests

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Pub Date 15 Nov 2022 | Archive Date 22 Feb 2023

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Description

Sanctions have become the go-to foreign policy tool for the United States. Coercive economic measures such as trade tariffs, financial penalties, and export controls affect large numbers of companies and states across the globe. Some of these penalties target nonstate actors, such as Colombian drug cartels and Islamist terror groups; others apply to entire countries, including North Korea, Iran, and Russia. U.S. policy makers see sanctions as a low-cost tactic, but in reality these measures often fail to achieve their intended goals—and their potent side effects can even harm American interests.

Backfire explores the surprising ways sanctions affect multinational companies, governments, and ultimately millions of people around the world. Drawing on interviews with experts, policy makers, and people in sanctioned countries, Agathe Demarais examines the unintended consequences of the use of sanctions as a diplomatic weapon. The proliferation of sanctions spurs efforts to evade them, as states and firms seek ways to circumvent U.S. penalties. This is only part of the story. Sanctions also reshape relations between countries, pushing governments that are at odds with the U.S. closer to each other—or, increasingly, to Russia and China.

Full of counterintuitive insights spanning a wide range of topics, from commodities markets in Russia to Iran’s COVID response and China’s cryptocurrency ambitions, Backfire reveals how sanctions are transforming geopolitics and the global economy—as well as diminishing U.S. influence. This insider’s account is an eye-opening, accessible, and timely book that sheds light on the future of sanctions in an increasingly multipolar world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Agathe Demarais is the global forecasting director of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), where she advises multinationals, international institutions, and governments on economic and geopolitical topics. She was previously a senior policy adviser for the French Treasury in Russia and Lebanon, working directly on sanctions and other economic and financial issues.

Sanctions have become the go-to foreign policy tool for the United States. Coercive economic measures such as trade tariffs, financial penalties, and export controls affect large numbers of companies...


A Note From the Publisher

Center on Global Energy Policy Series

Center on Global Energy Policy Series


Advance Praise

"With the knowledge of an expert and tight prose of a journalist, Agathe Demarais has written a fast-paced, well-articulated review of the difficulties, risks, and unintended consequences of using sanctions. This book should be added to university curricula and personal reading lists alike."

--Richard Nephew, author of The Art of Sanctions: A View from the Field

"With the knowledge of an expert and tight prose of a journalist, Agathe Demarais has written a fast-paced, well-articulated review of the difficulties, risks, and unintended consequences of using...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9780231199902
PRICE $30.00 (USD)

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