"How Do Sanctions (not) Work?" Book Launch: The Routledge Handbook of the Political Economy of Sanctions

In this book launch event, the contributors to the Routledge Handbook of the Political Economy of Sanctions, edited by Dr Ksenia Kirkham, will discuss the core issues and debates surrounding this controversial topic of sanctions. Speakers will assess the evolving character of sanctions from diverse perspectives, with a particular emphasis on questions of efficacy, legality, and legitimacy, as well as the mechanisms by which they are applied. The panellists will explore how various theoretical and historical approaches to sanctions can be applied to specific case studies, including the African Union, China, Cuba, India, Russia, Turkey, and the United States.

Event panellists

Dr Ksenia Kirkham

• Lecturer in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, UK. She previously worked in the oil and gas sector. Ksenia's research interests are sanctions and economic warfare, energy security, critical minerals and economic sustainability.
• After a brief introduction to the event, Ksenia will address the impact of sanctions on global supply chains and the green transition: the case of EV battery manufacturing in South Korea and the EU.

Dr Adnan Vatansever

• Reader in Russian Political Economy in the King’s Russia Institute. He is the author of Oil in Putin’s Russia: The Contests over Rents and Economic Policy. Previously, Adnan worked at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, and the World Bank.
• Adnan’s talk will assess the impact of international sanctions on global oil markets by exploring the puzzle of why some target states are more capable of avoiding sanctions.

Professor Hajime Okusako

• Associate Professor at the School of Social Sciences, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, Hajime’s research interests include theoretical aspects of global governance and sanctions as an instrument of governance.
• Following an exploration of theoretical aspects of the mechanisms of sanctions Hajime will argue for the necessity and urgency in creating an institutionalised framework of global governance – one that would aim at resolving the problems of ‘various trans-scalar actors’ – for fairer global sanctions policies.

Professor Alexandra Hofer

• Assistant professor in public international law at Utrecht University. Her research interests include sanctions, the principle of non-intervention, and the use of force. She conducts interdisciplinary research in international law, integrating IR and international law to address common issues.
• Characterising sanctions as a form of violence, Alexandra will discuss policies that can ‘correct’ International Law’s limited vision concerning their use.

Professor Wyn Bowen

• Professor of Non-proliferation and International Security in the Department of War Studies and Co-Director of the Freeman Air & Space Institute in the School of Security Studies, King's College London.
• Wyn will explore the use of sanctions as forms of deterrence, concerning the recent case of Russia.

Dr Vira Ameli

•  She is an interdisciplinary researcher of health and wellbeing in the interlocking contexts of IR and sustainable development.
• Vira will present the main findings of her recent study of unilateral sanctions as a form of ‘decelerators’ on the sustainable development of states, including Venezuela and Iran.

Professor Alan Cafruny

• Henry Platt Bristol Professor of International Affairs at Hamilton College (USA). He is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles in the areas of international political economy, European politics, and the transatlantic relationship.
• Alan will address the issue of the U.S. Sanctions as an ‘Offensive’ for some states by looking into the implications of sanctions for ‘Third Parties’ and the Transatlantic Relationship

Dr Francis Boateng Frimpong

• Senior lecturer at the Royal Docks School of Business and Law, the associate director of the Centre for the Study of States, Markets and People (STAMP), University of East London. Francis is the author of Financialisation and Poverty Alleviation in Ghana: Myths and Realities. His research interests include Neoliberalism, Poverty Alleviation, the Political Economy of Africa, and Big Data.
• Francis will look inside Africa to explore some myths and realities of the AU’s sanctions against its member states over the period from 2003 to 2022. Paradoxically, instead of resolving the internal political problems in target states, the AU’s sanctions increased instability, impeded economic growth, and perpetuated humanitarian problems.

Dr Rishika Chauhan

• MacArthur funded Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Department of War Studies, King's College London. Her research focuses on sanctions and nuclear non-proliferation, with an emphasis on the Indian and Chinese perspectives.
• Rishika will explore the impact of secondary sanctions on third countries, with a focus on India. She will explore India’s attempts to ‘balance norms and interests’ to withstand the negative effects of the US secondary sanctions.