Moral dilemmas concerning efforts to Impose sanctions on one’s own country: The case of the Belarusian opposition
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/lie.31205Keywords:
ethics of international sanctions, realism in international relations, utilitarianism, deontology, natural lawAbstract
In this article, we present the most common moral arguments against international economic sanctions and critically discuss them. We add the case of the moral dilemmas of the Belarusian opposition to further highlight the intricacies of the ethics of sanctions. First, we briefly define sanctions and situate their current understanding among several selected elements of the historical context. Then, we provide a central argument against the use of moral reflection in the sphere of international relations and justify its rejection. Against this background, we address three main moral arguments against sanctions and explain why it is difficult to accept them as binding.
References
Allen S. H., The determinants of economic sanctions success and failure, „International Interactions” 31 (2005), s. 117–138.
Amstutz M., International ethics: concepts, theories, and cases in global politics, Lanham 2018.
Askari H. G., Forrer J., Teegen H., Yang J., Economic sanctions: Examining their philosophy and efficacy, Westport 2003.
Beversluis E. H., On shunning undesirable regimes: Ethics and economic sanctions, „Public Affairs Quarterly” 3 (1989), s. 15–25.
Białocerkiewicz J., Sankcje Organizacji Narodów Zjednoczonych, w: Organizacja Narodów Zjednoczonych. Bilans i perspektywy, red. J. Symonides, Warszawa 2006, s. 127–160.
Carisch E., Rickard-Martin L., Meister R. S., The evolution of UN sanctions from a tool of warfare to a tool of peace, security and human rights, Cham 2017.
Chesterman S., Pouligny B., Are sanctions meant to work? The politics of creating and implementing sanctions through the United Nations, „Global Governance” 9 (2003), s. 503–518.
Christiansen D., Powers G. F., Economic sanctions and just war doctrine, w: Economic sanctions: Panacea or peacebuilding?, eds. D. Cortright, G. A. Lopez, Oxford 1995, s. 97–117.
Cortright D., Lopez G. A., Smart sanctions: Targeting economic statecraft, New York 2002.
Donnelly J., The ethics of realism, w: Oxford handbook of international relations, eds. C. Reus-Smit, D. Snidal, New York 2008, s. 150–162.
Early B. R., Busted sanctions: Explaining why economic sanctions fail, Stanford 2015.
Ellis E., The ethics of economic sanctions: Why just war theory is not the answer, „Res Publica” 27 (2021) issue 3, s. 409–426, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-020-09483-z.
Ellis E., The ethics of economic sanctions, w: Internet encyclopedia of philosophy, https://iep.utm.edu/ethics-of-economic-sanctions/ (4.04.2025).
Gordon J., A peaceful, silent, deadly remedy: The ethics of economic sanctions, „Ethics and International Affairs” 13 (1999), s. 123–142.
Gordon J., Invisible war: The United States and Iraq sanctions, Cambridge 2010.
Hayden P., Introduction, w: The Ashgate research companion to ethics and international relations, ed. P. Hayden, Burlington 2009, s. 1–10.
Hayden P., Cosmopolitanism past and present, w: The Ashgate research companion to ethics and international relations, ed. P. Hayden, Burlington 2009, s. 43–62.
Hufbauer G. C., Schott J. J., Elliott K. A., Oegg B., Economic sanctions reconsidered, Washington 2007.
Hufbauer G. C., Jung E., Economic sanctions in the twenty-first century, w: Research handbook on economic sanctions, ed. P. A. G. van Bergeijk, Cheltenham 2021, s. 26–43.
Jones L., Societies under siege: Exploring how international economic sanctions (do not) work, Oxford 2015.
Karuka M., Hunger politics: Sanctions as siege warfare, w: Sanctions as war: Anti-imperialist perspectives on American geo-economic strategy, eds. S. Davis, I. Ness, Leiden–Boston 2022, s. 51–62.
Köchler H., Ethische Aspekte der Sanktionen im Völkerrecht. Die Praxis der Sanktionspolitik und die Menschenrechte, Vienna 1994.
Lopez G. A., In defense of smart sanctions: A response to Joy Gordon, „Ethics & International Affairs” 26 (2012), s. 135–146.
Mallard G., Sun J., International law, security, and sanctions: A decolonial perspective on the transnational legal order of sanctions, „Annual Review of Law and Social Science” 20 (2024), s. 97–116.
Nye J. S., Jr., The future of power, New York 2011.
Pattison J., The morality of sanctions, „Social Philosophy and Policy” 32 (2015) issue 1, s. 192–215, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0265052515000138.
Pattison J., Mapping the responsibilities to protect: A typology of international duties, „Global Responsibility to Protect” 7 (2015), s. 190–210.
Peksen D., Economic sanctions and political stability and violence in target countries, w: Research handbook on economic sanctions, ed. P. A. G. van Bergeijk, Cheltenham 2021, s. 187–201.
Peksen D., Political effectiveness, negative externalities, and the ethics of economic sanctions, „Ethics & International Affairs” 33 (2019), s. 279–289.
Pierce A. C., Just war principles and economic sanctions, „Ethics and International Affairs” 10 (1996), s. 99–113.
Rosenthal J. H., Economic sanctions, w: The international encyclopedia of ethics, ed. H. LaFollette, Chichester 2013, s. 1546–1552.
Slomp G., The origins of realism revisited, w: The Ashgate research companion to ethics and international relations, ed. P. Hayden, Burlington 2009, s. 13–26.
Targeted sanctions: The impacts and effectiveness of United Nations actions, eds. T. J. Biersteker, S. E. Eckert, M. Tourinho, Cambridge 2016.
Weisbrot M., Sachs J., Economic sanctions as collective punishment: The case of Venezuela, Center for Economic and Policy Research, 2019, https://cepr.net/publications/economic-sanctions-as-collective-punishment-the-case-of-venezuela/ (4.04.2025).
Williams A., Liberalism, w: The Ashgate research companion to ethics and international relations, ed. P. Hayden, Burlington 2009, s. 27–41.
Whang T., Playing to the home crowd? Symbolic use of economic sanctions in the United States, „International Studies Quarterly” 55 (2011), s. 787–801.
Wohlforth W. C., Realism, w: Oxford handbook of international relations, eds. C. Reus-Smit, D. Snidal, New York 2008, s. 131–149.
Zohar N., Boycott, crime and sin: Ethical and Talmudic responses to injustice abroad, „Ethics and International Affairs” 7 (1993), s. 39–53.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Piotr Lichacz, Piotr Rudkouski
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions, and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
