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. But while U.S. policymakers see sanctions as a low-cost tactic, these measures also have potent side effects that, in some cases, can even harm American interests.
In her new book Backfire, Agathe Demarais explores the surprising ways sanctions affect multinational companies, governments, and ultimately millions of people around the world. Drawing on interviews with experts, policymakers, and people in sanctioned countries, she examines the unintended consequences of the use of sanctions as a diplomatic weapon.
Join us as Carnegie’s Matt Duss welcomes Agathe to talk about this important new book, the strategies states and firms use to evade sanctions, and how sanctions can even push states at odds with the United States closer together—or, increasingly, to Russia and China.