Article Review(Impact of Economic Sanctions on Diplomatic Relations: A Comparative Analysis in United State)

Abstract

  The article focuses on the transformation of economic sanctions from a purely financial means of pressure to a strategic tool with far-reaching implications for the diplomatic arena, highlighting what the researcher describes as the “hidden diplomatic cost” borne by the imposing state—in this case, the United States of America. The article raises key questions regarding how the United States balances achieving its economic and political objectives through sanctions with maintaining the strength and credibility of its traditional diplomatic channels.

The article begins by establishing a solid theoretical framework that enables the reader to understand the shifts in the structure of the international system over the past decade. The researcher notes that unilateral sanctions, which were previously merely a tool of economic pressure, have today become a double-edged sword; on the one hand, they seek to impose the political will of the imposing state, and on the other, they undermine the foundations of traditional diplomacy based on negotiation and mutual interests. The article successfully elucidates this duality in a coherent manner by analyzing the economic and political transformations in the international system, highlighting how economic pressure can sometimes backfire—including by eroding the imposing state’s credibility on the international stage and fostering the emergence of new alliances among targeted states outside the sphere of Western hegemony.

The researcher relied on desk methodology to analyze secondary data, which enabled her to track historical developments, identify specific behavioral patterns among states affected by sanctions, and link these to diplomatic outcomes. The article highlights the researcher’s successful use of three overlapping theoretical frameworks, which formed a robust analytical foundation for understanding the impact of sanctions on international relations: