Sanctions Beyond Borders: Multinational Corporations and U.S. Economic Statecraft

Sanctions Beyond Borders tests the assumption that economic globalization and the decline of U.S. hegemony give overseas corporate behavior a free reign in defying U.S. imposed sanctions abroad. It examines the use of sanctions from the early Cold War era through the sanctions decade of the 1990s, including the Helms-Burton Law and the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act. On the one hand, the book shows that multinationals are often susceptible to U.S. influence because they fear political fallout. At the same time, the book demonstrates that even though the use of sanctions has been widely promoted by interest groups, Congress, and the general public, the effect of sanctions has fallen short on many counts. Especially when it comes to preventing economically significant transactions with proscribed nations by key multinational corporations, sanctions are shown to be weak and costly measures that damage diplomatic relations.