American policymakers and lawmakers are floating unilateral sanctions against Russia, Iran and even Turkey in an effort to change behavior. But research shows sanctions only work in narrow circumstances.
Eighty years ago, we were just as scared of the Japanese buying our assets as we are of the Chinese today. So what does this say about the future of Australia in the Asia-Pacific region?
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his team meeting international investors and business leaders in London.
GCIS/ Elmond Jiyane
Many contracts have been ended in cases of war or changes in the law. But government action making a contract more expensive does not mean it will be terminated.
The US has charged and sanctioned nine Iranians and an Iranian company for cyber attacks.
Parmida Rahimi/Flickr
The international community should set bright line rules on appropriate responses to cyber attacks before an expansive reading of the “self-defense” clause triggers war.
Investigations continue into the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
Andrew Matthews/PA Wire
The charges against a Sydney man for allegedly acting as an ‘economic agent’ for North Korea are set against the background of recent tougher UN sanctions against the rogue nation.
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un called Trump a ‘dotard.’
KCNA via Reuters
The latest salvo of insults and threats between President Trump and North Korea’s Kim brought the region a little bit closer to war. China, North Korea’s closest trading partner, may be the only way out.
Are harsher measures to squeeze North Korea’s population worth it? Everything we know about sanctions says probably not.
Trucks cross the friendship bridge connecting China and North Korea on Sept. 4, 2017. Trump has threatened to cut off trade with countries that deal with North Korea.
AP Photo/Helene Franchineau
It’s never been used in the history of the EU, but Poland could be about to feel the full force of this powerful mechanism.
Much of Miami rallied behind the US president in reinstating the Cuban embargo. Reactions on the island have been predictably less enthusiastic.
Bernie Woodall/Reuters
Ramón I. Centeno, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Trump’s revamped old policy could have a paradoxical effect on Cuba, seriously damaging the country’s economy while actually galvanising its political system.
Spanish activists protest against retailers using factories in a building in Bangladesh which collapsed, killing more than 600 people.
Reuters/Albert Gea
“Shaming campaigns” have been successful in attracting attention to transnational issues like inhumane working conditions and environmental degradation. But shaming guilty corporations is only the first step.
Hassan Rouhani’s supporters have high hopes for a second term.
EPA/Abedin Taherkenareh
Rules imposed after 9/11 and still on the books are getting in the way of delivering aid to conflict zones. In countries like Yemen and Syria, it could mean the difference between life and death.
Onlookers in Seoul, South Korea, watch news of another North Korean ballistic missile test.
Kim Hong-Ji
A grassroots opposition movement against the Donald Trump presidency is growing. The question is can it be harnessed into globalised sanctions campaign?