Research
International Security | Foreign Policy | International Political Economy | Statecraft
Book Project
The Financialization of Foreign Policy
Targeted Financial Sanctions, Vulnerability, and Government Retaliation
The financialization of foreign policy features the heightened presence and relevance of finance in foreign policy. The book project draws on work from my dissertation and examines the political effects of the financialization of foreign policy in the United States. One result of the financialization of foreign policy is reliance on targeted financial sanctions as a first-resort tool of statecraft. These targeted sanctions differ from traditional economic sanctions in meaningful ways that have implications for the response taken by the governments of sanctioned actors.
Under what conditions do governments respond to the imposition of targeted financial sanctions? I argue the decision to respond to U.S.-imposed targeted sanctions is a strategic one, influenced by key features of the targeted sanction episode: the identity of the actor intended for coercion, which can be the government or the targeted entity itself, and the political relevance of the targeted actor to the political survival of the government. To test these and other arguments, I use quantitative statistical tests of a new dataset and detailed comparative case studies of targeted sanctions episodes. I introduce and use a new dataset on targeted financial sanctions imposed by the U.S. between 2011 and 2019. The Targeted Financial Sanctions Dataset is the first comprehensive, accessible cross-national dataset on U.S. targeted sanctions and government responses. This dataset will enable the study of important questions surrounding the use of targeted financial sanctions as a tool of statecraft, in addition to the key question examined in this project. The multi-method study reveals the conditions that make governments inclined to retaliate against the U.S. This project contributes to our understanding of the strategic environment in which governments respond to targeted sanctions, and sheds light on the implications of relying, perhaps too heavily, on financial tools of coercion in foreign policy.
Publications
with Jon C. W. Pevehouse. World Politics, Vol. 75, No. 5, p. 1-14. 2024.
Since the 1970s, international influences on democratization have received increasing attention from scholars and policymakers. Scholars pointed to multiple mechanisms by which international factors could influence the transition to and the consolidation of democracy. While the arguments mostly pointed to positive influences, the optimism of the post–Cold War era have given way to concern about international sources of authoritarianism and democratic backsliding. The authors provide a framework for thinking about what we know about international forces and democratization, outlining several unanswered questions.
H-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum, Policy Roundtable. April 2024
As export controls restrict the sale of computing and semiconductor technology to Chinese military entities and financial sanctions target technology suppliers of Russia’s military, emerging technologies appear to play dual roles in United States’ economic statecraft. The US uses sanctions and export controls to address perceived threats from critical technologies while firms and other states use critical technologies in their sanctions compliance practices.
The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 1, p. 105-120. 2023.
After Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, Moscow attempted to “sanctions-proof” its economy. Although sanctions alone remain unlikely to compel a change in behavior, the strength of the US dollar, the reach of multilateral sanctions, and the speed with which sanctions were imposed made it difficult for sanctions-proofing efforts to insulate Russia from sanctions’ effects.
Lawfare. Foreign Relations & International Law. 18 June 2023.
"Despite the Russian government's efforts, the unprecedented sanctions imposed on Russia in February 2022 have constrained the Russian government's access to necessary Western resources. The government's sanctions-proofing success appears mixed at best."
--Statecraft Fellow Caileigh Glenn in Lawfare
Photo credit: Alexey Kudenko/RIA Novosti Host Photo Agency via kremlin.ru; CC BY 4.0.