scholarly journals Sanctions in U.S. - Russia Relations

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 504-520
Author(s):  
Charles E. Ziegler

Given America’s leading position in the global economy, the U.S. government has frequently leveraged that power to punish “rogue states”, discourage nuclear proliferation, promote democratization, and create pressure for regime change. Washington relied on economic incentives in relations with Russia after 1991, but since 2012 the United States has utilized a broad range of economic sanctions against Russian side, leading to a significant deterioration in what was already a troubled relationship. In contrast to earlier comprehensive sanctions like those imposed on Iraq and Haiti, the U.S. is now crafting “smart” or targeted sanctions designed to exert maximum pressure on selected Russian elites and firms. Rather than evaluating the effectiveness of these measures on changing Russian behavior, the author explores the neglected domestic dimension of the U.S. sanctions process to improve understanding of U.S. foreign policy. This article draws on primary sources in the form of Congressional legislation, executive orders, and official statements to analyze U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia, and develops three brief case studies - the Magnitsky Act, post-Ukraine sanctions, and the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act - to explicate the main issues and actors driving U.S. sanctions. The author argues that domestic factors, including Congressional pressures and interest group activity, are critical to understanding U.S. sanctions regimes. While President Donald Trump has frequently resisted congressionally imposed sanctions, expectations for a more conciliatory approach towards Russia under the Trump administration have not materialized.

Author(s):  
Shyamalendu Sarkar

The Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) with the United States was passed on July 28, 2005. The main goal of DR-CAFTA is to create a free trade zone for economic development. The Agreement is highly controversial with many contentious issues including concern about the environment, which is the focus of this study. The concern is that the environmental objectives are expected to be subservient to trade and other economic incentives which will lead to further deterioration of the environment in countries where the environmental standards are already low. The effects on the U.S. environment are expected to be minimal. However, it is feared that the U.S. manufacturing facilities may relocate to Central American countries to take advantage of low wages and low environmental requirements, which may result in loss of jobs and capital investment in the U.S. However, overall DR-CAFTA is expected to be beneficial in many ways, including an increase in trade and economic growth in all participating countries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Schafer

The 2018 U.S. pivot in information and cyberspace degraded Russian operations in the 2018 election. Following pervasive Russian information power operations during the U.S. 2016 elections, the United States progressed from a policy of preparations and defense in information and cyberspace to a policy of forward engagement. U.S recognition of renewed great power competition coupled with Russia’s inability to compete diplomatically, militarily (conventionally), or economically, inspires Russia to continues to concentrate on information power operations. This great game in cyberspace was virtually uncontested by the U.S. prior to 2017. Widespread awareness of Russian aggression in 2016 served as a catalyst which highlighted the enormity of Russian campaigns and the crippling constraints on U.S. information power. This catalyst pivoted the U.S. from a passive policy of preparations and defense in information and cyberspace to a policy of forward engagement that successfully attenuated Russian efforts in 2018. By examining information power from theory development and Russian practice to recent reports and primary sources we find that the U.S. demonstrated the capability and willingness to defend forward successfully during the 2018 elections. Going forward, the U.S. must continue and expand efforts to contest cyberspace and counter disinformation to secure our democracy and the U.S. 2020 presidential election.


Author(s):  
I. Danilin

The “technological war” between the United States and China that started in 2017–2018 raises a number of questions about the future role of technological development as a factor in relations between superpowers. Analysis shows that for the United States this conflict is caused by changing balance of risks and benefits of the liberal model of globalization due to the rise of China`s power and growing geopolitical tensions between the two nations. In this context, emerging, especially digital, technologies appear to be a new battlefield between superpowers. Within the realist framework, actors consider emerging technologies as a key factor for strengthening their global postures. This, among other things, contributes to securitized technological agenda and strengthens its geopolitical dimension. Neo-technonationalism has become the platform that integrates different processes and goals into new U.S. policy. Although historically neo-technonationalism took its roots in Asia, the evolving market situation prompted the United States to rethink existing approaches and to upgrade the techno-nationalist dimension of its policy. Considering similar policies of China and the EU (i. e. the European digital sovereignty policy), this trend shapes new realities of technological “blocs”, the struggle for expansion of technological platforms, and technological conflicts. Taking into account prospective development needs of the global economy and future specification of mutual interest areas, as new digital technologies mature, the ground for normalizing the dialogue between the superpowers will emerge. However, at least in the U.S.–China case, this issue will be complicated by geopolitical contradictions that leave little room for any serious compromise.


Author(s):  
Douglas A. Irwin

This chapter sets out basic facts about international trade and the U.S. economy. It describes how world trade has expanded rapidly in the recent decades and explains how the development provides the context in which to consider trade policy. The chapter discusses the reasons for the increase in trade and how trade has changed with the fragmentation of production and the increase in trade of intermediate goods. It talks about the state of public opinion on the question of globalization. It also analyzes protectionist policies that directly harm employment in domestic industries by raising production costs in addition to forcing consumers to pay higher price for the products they buy.


Author(s):  
Larry Catá Backer

This chapter seeks to answer the question: What internal Cuban legal adjustments are necessary for Cuba to enter into a fully normalized relationship with the United States. and the rest of the world? The chapter first focuses on the adjustments Cuba might have to undertake if it is to embed itself within the structures of global trade and finance. Next, the chapter examines the extent to which Cuba is disposed to consider these possible reforms. Third, it examines what may be possible in the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election of 2016 (and its aftermath) and other global changes, including the emergence of a Chinese alternative to national embedding in global trade. These have considerably changed the terrain within with the consequences of U.S.-Cuba normalization can be considered. The examination considers the value of the European Union’s strategic initiative, the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA), as a viable basis for Cuban reintegration in the global economy.


Author(s):  
N. Bruce Duthu

United States law recognizes American Indian tribes as distinct political bodies with powers of self-government. Their status as sovereign entities predates the formation of the United States and they are enumerated in the U.S. Constitution as among the subjects (along with foreign nations and the several states) with whom Congress may engage in formal relations. And yet, despite this long-standing recognition, federal Indian law remains curiously ambivalent, even conflicted, about the legal and political status of Indian tribes within the U.S. constitutional structure. On the one hand, tribes are recognized as sovereign bodies with powers of self-government within their lands. On the other, long-standing precedents of the Supreme Court maintain that Congress possesses plenary power over Indian tribes, with authority to modify or even eliminate their powers of self-government. These two propositions are in tension with one another and are at the root of the challenges faced by political leaders and academics alike in trying to understand and accommodate the tribal rights to self-government. The body of laws that make up the field of federal Indian law include select provisions of the U.S. Constitution (notably the so-called Indian Commerce Clause), treaties between the United States and various Indian tribes, congressional statutes, executive orders, regulations, and a complex and rich body of court decisions dating back to the nation’s formative years. The noted legal scholar Felix Cohen brought much-needed coherence and order to this legal landscape in the 1940s when he led a team of scholars within the Office of the Solicitor in the Department of the Interior to produce a handbook on federal Indian law. The revised edition of Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law is still regarded as the seminal treatise in the field. Critically, however, this rich body of law only hints at the real story in federal Indian law. The laws themselves serve as historical and moral markers in the ongoing clash between indigenous and nonindigenous societies and cultures still seeking to establish systems of peaceful coexistence in shared territories. It is a story about the limits of legal pluralism and the willingness of a dominant society and nation to acknowledge and honor its promises to the first inhabitants and first sovereigns.


Geophysics ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 638-638

The Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) is the primary international professional organization for 11,000 geophysicists from over one hundred countries. About 7,300 members reside in the United States. Members of SEG carry out worldwide $1.1 billion of geophysical exploration annually in the search for petroleum, other minerals and other energy resources. About 50% of this expenditure is made in the U.S. and about 60% of the data acquired in the U.S. is offshore. Our members are one of this nation's primary sources of manpower and technology so vital in the critical search for new energy sources.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Weiqing Zhuang

Big data analytics (BDA) is a wide and deep application in e-commerce, which impacts positively on the global economy, especially the U.S. and China who have done well. This paper seeks to examine the relative influence of theoretical research and practical activities of BDA in e-commerce to explain the differences between the U.S. and China according to the two main literature databases, Web of Science and CNKI, respectively, and by employing other samples that present retail e-commerce sales and the number of some data companies founded in the U.S. and China each year. We further determine the reasons leading to the difference between the U.S. and China in BDA in e-commerce, which can help managers devise appropriate business strategies in e-commerce for each of them, and provide a proof of the significant relationship of theoretical research and practical activities in BDA in e-commerce. In addition, the variables related to big data companies show a moderation effect rather than mediating effect relative to the practice of theoretical research in e-commerce in the United States, but they show a moderate effect and mediating effects in China. The results of this study help clarify doubts regarding the development of China’s e-commerce. Moreover, three orientations in e-commerce using BDA and the use of quantum computing in e-commerce to solve existing e-commerce problems are explored to provide better evidence for decision-making that could be valuable in future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-235
Author(s):  
Sang-Chul Park ◽  

Growth in trade has slowed since the global financial crisis in 2008. It seemed to recover in 2017 but declined again after the Trump administration in the U.S. imposed protectionist measures in 2018 which led to conflicts with its major trading partners, including Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, Korea and the EU. Among these partners, the U.S. negotiated amendments to its FTAs with Canada, Mexico and Korea. It is still negotiating with Japan. However, the U.S. government took a different, hard line approach to China in terms of trade based on setting high tariffs on Chinese imports to which China responded by placing high tariffs on U.S. imports. The trade conflict began with criticisms directed at each other, with the U.S. putting its national interest first and China touting a global system of free trade as a key issue. The trade conflict has negatively impacted not only the U.S. and Chinese economies but also the global economy, given that the two economies together as the G2 account for nearly 40% of global output. Therefore, one of the most important challenges for global economic growth is how the conflict might further affect the global economy. This paper analyzes why the trade conflict emerged and how to resolve it. It also focuses on the economic impacts of the trade conflict on the global economy in general, and the Chinese economy in particular. Further, it analyzes how the Chinese government strategically deals with trade negotiations with the United States.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Martin

Presidential candidate Trump in 2016 promised to prevent unauthorized migration and deport unauthorized foreigners in the United States, and President Trump issued executive orders after taking office in January 2017 that could lead to a 2,000-mile wall on the Mexico-US border and the removal of many of the 11 million unauthorized foreigners, including one million who work in US agriculture. This paper emphasizes that, especially agriculture in the western United States, has long relied on newcomers to fill seasonal farm jobs. The slowdown in Mexico-US migration since 2008–09 means that there are fewer flexible newcomers to supplement the current workforce, which is aging and settled. Farm employers are responding by offering bonuses to satisfy current workers, stretching them with productivity-increasing tools, substituting machines for workers, and supplementing current workforces with legal H-2A guest workers. Immigration policy will influence the choice between mechanization, guest workers, and imports. Several factors suggest that the United States may be poised to embark on another large-scale guest worker program for agriculture. If it does, farmers should begin to pay Social Security and Unemployment Insurance (UI) taxes on the wages of H-2A workers to foster mechanization and development in the workers' communities of origin by dividing these payroll taxes equally between workers as they depart and commodity-specific boards. Worker departure bonuses could be matched by governments in migrant-sending areas to promote development, and commodity-specific boards could spend monies to reduce dependence on hand labor over time. The economic incentives provided by payroll taxes could help to usher in a new and better era of farm labor.


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