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Examines the purposes of punishment and reveals that only some are understandable when a model of means-end rationality is used, suggesting that the element of the nonrational also plays an important role in international sanctions. (Abstract amended)

Much of the contemporary literature on the utility of international sanctions approaches the apparent riddle of why sanctions are embraced so eagerly when they are supposedly such an "ineffective" tool of statecraft by focusing on the instrumental and rational purposes of sanctions. As a result, one purpose that does not always lend itself to a rational means-end calculus—the purpose of punishment—tends to be overlooked or, more commonly, dismissed outright. This article explores punishment as both a useful and an effective purpose of international sanctions. It argues not only that sanctions should be distinguished from other forms of hurtful statecraft but also that they are a form of "international punishment" for wrongdoing, despite the difficulties of applying the term "punishment" in the context of international relations. The article then examines the purposes of punishment and reveals that only some are understandable when a model of means-end rationality is used, suggesting that the element of the nonrational also plays an important role in international sanctions. The argument is then applied to the case of U.S. sanctions imposed after the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan to demonstrate the different purposes of punishment at work in this case. The article concludes that just as we cannot understand punishment as a purposive human activity solely by reference to a rational model of a means to a clearly delineated end, so too we cannot entirely understand sanctions as a form of international punishment by an attachment to a rational model of policy behavior. However, some forms of punishment are exceedingly effective, and this may explain why sanctions continue to be a popular instrument of statecraft.

Award date: 1990 ; Supervisor: A. Cassese ; First made available online 3 September 2015

1 Introduction -- 2 The classical (Ricardo-Torrens) theory of comparative costs -- 3 The neoclassical theory of international trade -- 4 The Heckscher-Ohlin model -- 5 Tariffs, protection, economic integration -- 6 International trade and economic growth -- 7 Some refinements of the orthodox theory -- 8 The "new" theories of international trade -- 9 Neo-Ricardian theories of international trade -- 10 The foreign exchange market -- 11 Balance of payments and national accounts -- 12 The role of the exchange rate in the adjustment process in a partial equilibrium framework -- 13 The role of income changes in the adjustment process -- 14 The absorption approach and interactions between exchange rate and income in the adjustment process -- 15 Money and other assets in the adjustment process under fixed exchange rates -- 16 Money and other assets in the adjustment process under flexible exchange rates -- 17 International capital movements and other problems -- 18 Fixed versus flexible exchange rates -- 19 International liquidity and international financial markets -- 20 The problem of integration between the pure theory of international trade and international monetary economics -- Name Index of Book I and Book II -- Subject Index of Book I and Book II.