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

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This work tests the assumption that economic globalization and the decline of US hegemony give overseas corporate behaviour a free reign in defying US imposed sanctions abroad. It examines the use of sanctions from the Cold War through the sanctions decade of the 1990s, including the Helms-Burton Law and the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act. On the one hand, the text shows that multinationals are often susceptible to US influence because they fear political fallout. At the same time, it shows 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.

Reviews

Sanctions Beyond Borders is an excellent historical account of U.S. sanctions with an extraterritorial effect since WW II, fully up-to-date in its examination of the impact of domestic politics and NGO-campaigning. The book is also a sophisticated testing of current theories about multinational companies in the global economy indicating, they are less state-less as often thought and more linked into their political, cultural and legal domestic setting. -- Thomas Wlde, Jean Monnet Chair for EU Economic and Energy Law and executive director of the Center for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law at
As Rodman shows, when America's relative economic influence was supposedly so great in the early Cold War, U.S. officials felt more constrained by their sense of duty to allies and allied institutions. Now, for better or worse, it is harder for U.S. leaders to discern the common good. * Foreign Affairs *
Overall, in this definitive and very readable work, the author is rightfully skeptical of sanctions as a foreign policy instrument in a competitive environment where target countries usually have plenty of alternatives. Highly recommended for college, university, and professional library collections. * Choice Reviews *
If reading this book, and pondering the twenty or thirty episodes that he [Rodman] describes made me think through the problem of subsidiaries and sanctions once again, it may inspire other readers as well, whether they be policymakers, lawyers, or students of contemporary events. * The American Journal Of International Law *
Timely and provocative. Sanctions Beyond Borders is arguably the single best introduction to the topic today. It is comprehensively researched, theoretically sophisticated, rich in empirical detail, and well written. Aside from those scholars interested in sanctions specifically, the book should also appeal to those investigating domestic-international linkages, methodologists interested in testing theories against case studies, Cold War historians, and teachers of U.S. policy looking for interesting case study material to integrate into their courses... * American Political Science Review *
This original and provocative book challenges conventional wisdom. Rodman demonstrates that forces besides hegemonic power explain the success or failure of extraterritorial U.S. sanctions: domestic politics, public opinion, corporate interests, and back channel influence are all at work. -- Gary Hufbauer, Institute for International Economics
Timely and provocative. Sanctions Beyond Borders is arguably the single best introduction to the topic today. It is comprehensively researched, theoretically sophisticated, rich in empirical detail, and well written. Aside from those scholars interested in sanctions specifically, the book should also appeal to those investigating domestic-international linkages, methodologists interested in testing theories against case studies, Cold War historians, and teachers of U.S. policy looking for interesting case study material to integrate into their courses. * American Political Science Review *

Author Bio

Kenneth A. Rodman is the William R. Cotter Distinguished Teaching Professor of Government at Colby College.