(iPoster) The Competing Logics of U.S. Grand Strategies’ Sanctions Doctrines

• In Event: Poster Session: South Asian Politics & Economics, Information Warfare, and Conflict Management
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Economics, Information Warfare, and Conflict Management

Abstract

Economic sanctions have become a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, yet their integration into the study of grand strategy remains underdeveloped. This paper by develops the concept of a sanctions doctrine, which guides the use of sanctions within the context of broader U.S. grand strategies. Focusing on four prominent grand strategies—liberal internationalism, deep engagement, conservative primacy, and restraint—I analyze their respective sanctions doctrines across four dimensions: sanction type, coalition type, complementarity with other policy instruments, and sanctions activism. The analysis reveals critical differences in how these strategies conceptualize the scope, implementation, and purpose of sanctions, reflecting divergent logics about multilateralism, coercion, and strategic objectives. For example, conservative primacy embraces unilateral, activist sanctions as tools for coercion and prelude to force, while restraint advocates for a minimalist approach, emphasizing targeted sanctions to preserve U.S. security without overreach. My analysis also generates counter-intuitive findings. For instance, liberal internationalism and restraint are often seen as opposites, yet they are strikingly similar in their shared preference for limited sanction scope, using targeted sanctions and avoiding trade and secondary sanctions, though this shared preference is motivated by different logic. By integrating economic sanctions into the grand strategy literature, this study enhances understanding of how non-military tools can serve as critically important means to further grand strategic ends, providing scholars and policymakers with a clearer framework for evaluating sanctions’ role in grand strategy.

Author

• Paul Silva, University of Pennsylvania