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History of Sanctions in International Law

Pre-first World War principles stated that the balance of military power must be kept in equilibrium with co-existing countries, but these principles were later replaced to create a system of International cooperation, says Lutfullah. The production of The League of Nations in 1919 was a major driver toward this new system. This system would become a major force for harnessing the powers of sanctions, and it heavily influences how sanctions are applied today. This system was created within a mutual agreement between member states to create a framework to solve differences among themselves. The sanctions against Mussolini's Italy in 1945 was one of the first sanctions that the league imposed, although it was hindered powerless by the growing rise of Hitlers military power. After World War Two, the League of Nations was replaced by the more expansive United Nations in 1945. Sanctions have become a commonly used foreign policy tool in the 21st century in countless situations ranging from disputes to hostile confrontations.

Sanctions in Iraq

According to David Cortright and George Lopez, Sanctions caused erosion of the Iraqi military, and depleted resources that were crucial to the creation of weapons. United Nation Sanctions that began against Iraq in August of the year 1990 are one the most long-running weaponization of finance examples that have remained of significant importance to world affairs today. These long holding sanctions that had been imposed by the UN were critical to hindering Iraq's development of weapons of mass destruction. These sanctions cut off trade with other countries as well as barred Iraq oil exports, ruining the Iraqi economy. These sanctions had other consequences, resulting in an uprising in poverty and easily preventable deaths in the 1990s among children.

Moral Consequences of Economic Weaponization

With weaponization of finance, sanctions are one of the many ways to utilize authority over other countries. Sanctions are one of the most intrusive methods when it comes to putting barriers on other countries to comply with demands, propositions Peksen. The moral consequences are many to be considered, as these sanctions can also cause collateral damage on ordinary citizens. Peksen implies that sanctions can degenerate human rights in the target country.

Sanctions against white-ruled South Africa were strongly opposed by U.S. administrators, from Kennedy to Reagan. These presidents repeatedly argued that sanctions were dangerous for blacks in South Africa. The reason for these sanctions was the want for raw resources the U.S needed, but because of the institutionalized racism prevalent in South Africa, this was seen as a dangerous topic that could lead to moral hazard, according to Lutfullah.

Economic Sanctions

Economic Sanctions are the practice of withholding an economic advantage from another country for political purposes. Economic Sanctions primarily come in two forms, Trade and Financial. Trade sanctions can take the form of reducing or refusing exports to a country or refusing imports from the country. Financial Sanctions address monetary issues as opposed to trade. This can include blocking of government assets abroad as well as limiting access to financial markets. These approaches are often used in conjunction in order to increase the effectiveness of the Sanctions. The influence of a sanction is heavily dependent on the economic power of the country or countries imposing the sanction, this also leads to groups of nations such as the United Nations being capable of imposing more effective sanctions due to their combined influence on the world economy. They frequently act as a form of external pressure on a country, primarily being used in an attempt to coerce a country into either abandoning a controversial policy or to adopt one that is seen as beneficial to the country imposing the sanction. However much of the time the imposing of a sanction can unintentionally work against a positive outcome, weakening the economy of all countries involved through reduced trade and causing a reduction in the welfare of the involved populations, while also causing increasingly strained relations between the countries.

Terrorism Effect on Weaponization of Finance

One circumstance that plays a major role into how weapons are financed today is terrorism. There are various terrorist groups in the world today who have impacted this aspect, however the terrorist groups of Al-Qaida and Isis are groups who play major roles. The types of weapons that are financed can be smaller arms weapons and light weapons . Both of these weapons are tools used to by terrorist, to inflict violence. There are vast measures that have been implemented to try to prevent terrorism. The UNODA has been greatly beneficial in their tactics to promote change in how weapons can be financed. This group has saved impacted the way weapons have been financed and funded. The acronym "UNODA", stands for, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs This department has been quite helpful in stopping terrorist groups from receiving all types of weapons. Other implementations that are put in place are international sanctions. Sanctions from various governments can help decrease the flow of weapons, because it puts a penalty on other foreign governments. The UNODA finds a way to affect terrorist strategies and agendas, because a lot of times terrorist have ideas on how to affect the weapons market. The UNODA can influence other foreign governments to be hesitant in their pursuits to buy weapons. The UNODA has found a way to ultimately control the arms market. They ultimately try to prevent other governments to sell, manufacture or buy various types of weapons.