Making it Work: U.S. Economic Sanctions in Iraq

This research project will proceed from a brief general examination of the use of economic sanctions as an instrument of policy to an examination of the specific case of economic sanctions currently used against Iraq and the smart sanctions regime suggested recently by Secretary of State Colin Powell. My analysis will lay out basic areas of criticism and briefly look at how well current U.S. and UN sanctions policy toward Iraq fares in the face of these objections. This will set the stage for an examination of the notion of a smart sanctions regime as a potential solution to reconcile some if not all of the problems extant in the consideration of sanctions regimes as a viable and acceptable instrument of policy in use toward the attainment of U.S. political objectives in Iraq.