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Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics pp 982–991Cite as

Food and Agricultural Trade Sanctions

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Synonyms

Economic force; Economic war; Financial controls; Trade restrictions

Introduction

States faced with behavior by foreign governments that are perceived to be objectionable have a variety of policy responses ranging from doing nothing to declaring war. Among the foreign policy tools available, various types of sanctions have frequently been deployed both by individual states and collectively through international organizations such as the United Nations (UN). Sanctions involve the suspension of normal relations with foreign countries with the aim of forcing the offending government to alter its behavior. They are often seen as more effective than diplomatic responses but less costly than outright war. Economic sanctions, the most common type of sanction, are defined by Hufbauer et al. (2007) as “… the deliberate, government-inspired withdrawal, or threat of withdrawal, of customary trade or financial relations.” Governments may also initiate sanctions that are less directly...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA

    E. Wesley F. Peterson

  2. University of Nebraska College of Law, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Kiersten Haugen

Authors
  1. E. Wesley F. Peterson
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  2. Kiersten Haugen
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Correspondence to E. Wesley F. Peterson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy and Religion, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    David M. Kaplan

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Peterson, E.W.F., Haugen, K. (2019). Food and Agricultural Trade Sanctions. In: Kaplan, D.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1179-9_561

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