Hekmat Aboukhater
As the Washington drawbridge lowers for a second Trump administration, the world attempts to glean any insights that might indicate the direction of his second term. At the top of the list of concerns is the topic of sanctions.
As of 2024, the US is actively sanctioning a third of all nations on earth. As the American populace grew more wary of military entanglements and forever wars, consecutive administrations have exponentially escalated the use of the economic weapon. The Obama administration averaged a total of 500 new sanctions a year, while the first Trump administration doubled it to 1,000 a year, and the Biden administration sextupled the figure—imposing more than 12,000 sanctions in 4 years. Now, many wonder whether a second Trump admin will continue or curb this trend.
US Sanctions: Past and Present
Leading a nascent nation, Thomas Jefferson pushed the US congress to pass the Embargo Act of 1807 to punish the United Kingdom for harassing US ships, and impressing American sailors. A century later, shortly after the conclusion of the first world war—in his failed attempt to whip up support for the League of Nations—Woodrow Wilson advocated for its ability to sanction intransigent global actors by stating, “A nation that is boycotted is a nation that is in sight of surrender.” However, the unilateral coercive measures—or financial sanctions, as we know them in the modern era—trace to a much more recent origin.
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