Introduction
Economic consequences are extremely important for the countries across the globe; in fact it is one of those aspects characteristics of an economy from which one can distinguishes easily among economically prosper and ineffective countries of the world. Apart from the basic definition that strides on the main focal point which is economics is the name of earning and consuming the money at a best possible manner, and at a best place, there is yet another important thing that focuses on the main aspect which is to enhance the productivity of the companies accordingly (Askari, p.90).
It is a common thing that found in almost every part of the world that strong always take-over the weaker one. United States (US) is the largest and strongest economy of the world, and thus they have numerous aspects related to them. United States is one of those economies of the world that applied heavy regulations and sanctions to the other economies of the world, and among them Iran, Afghanistan and other countries are on heavy focus. What are the aspects that have been taken into account by the US Government while placing sanctions to them? And what are their major aspects that will be considered to place economic sanctions on them? This will be the focal point of this research, which will be examining in this particular assignment (Collins and Bowdoin, p.12).
It is a term paper, which needed to analyze the US Economic sanctions applied against other countries of the world. The assignment will analyze the aspect accordingly for the US and its applied sanctions on different economies of the world by examining the same aspect broadly. The assignment has been distributed into different sections which includes introduction, a critical and thorough analysis and a strong conclusion to back the whole idea accordingly, and effectively at the same time.
Analysis & Findings
Economic Sanctions (ES) are some of the domestic and international penalties applied by one of the countries of the world (most of the times the strongest economy of the world) on another country. There are certain things that come under ambit of economic sanctions that may include the barriers in terms of trade, and restricted them on the financial transactions. The countries, on which the economic sanctions have been applied, are not even allowed to accumulate foreign exchange heavily in particular. Financial transactions are some of the essentials from the viewpoint of an economy, and it is equally beneficial for their economic consequences accordingly. Countries which are not effective in terms of financial transactions would not get certain appreciation accordingly. There are hundreds of examples are there in which the sanctions of financial transactions applied on a specific country of the world (Collins and Bowdoin, p.15).
Most of the people think that economic sanctions have been applied on those economies of the world which have economic circumstances and problems; however the case is not always right, as economic sanctions may also be imposed for a variety of political and social issues. Trade barriers are one of the major sanctions that will be applied on the economies who are politically effective and sound. Sanctions have been termed as penalties, imposed specifically by one nation to the other to restrict their focus and enhancement for a longer period (Drezner, p.67). It will be used specifically to pressurize one economy and pamper their growth. Most of the time, threat of explosion and increasing of political anarchy may also increase the level of economic sanctions towards some of the countries of the world. The US, which is the largest economy of the world, is in charge of applying the economic sanctions on different parts of the world, and there are certain check lists which are available to the US government to analyze this particular aspect accordingly.
Countries Sanctioned by the United States and Why?
It is not a good idea to get on the United States’ bad side. As the wealthiest and strongest country of the world in terms of economic consequences and in terms of size with having the biggest military of the world, it not suits the world on the repercussions of the economic sanctions in particular. Economic sanctions are one of the popular ways for a large government to exert their pressure on the other economy, or the disapproval over the other country of the world. Economic sanctions are less tangible for the country doing the sanctioning (Drezner, p.67). One of the major reasons behind the applied sanctions on the countries from the United States (US) is their insurgencies in the country both from direct angle and indirect angle in particular. However, most of them having sanctions to weakens their military and its allocated expenditure heavily to not to get them viable again. Apart from this, there are human rights violations in some countries wherein economic sanctions have been applied on. Currently, there are six countries of the world which are being sanctioned from the government of the United States (US), and these countries have been fighting for their rights from last ten years.
- Burma
Burma with an official name of Republic of the Union of Myanmar is a sovereign state located in Southeast Asia bordered with Bangladesh, India and China. Burma is a country which very rich in terms of gems, oil and natural gas and other mineral resources. The country has a low human development index (HDI), and ranking 150th out of 187 countries of the world. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reported in the financial year 2013 was US$ 221.479 billion (Osieja, p.56).
The United States has placed strong and heavy sanctions on Burma for the Human Rights aspects and the political problems in the country. The country is ruled by a military Junta, a committee of military based leaders that used to make the political decisions of the country. It means that the decision of the destiny and life of almost 50 million people is in the hands of some personnel of military. The general of the military, Than Shwe regarded as the worst dictator of the world in the year 2009 that induced the US Government to apply heavy regulations on them (Collins and Bowdoin, p.12).
The sanctions of the U.S. prohibit all the investment in Burma, and restricted their financial resources due to the ruling military of Junta. Apart from the investment, no country is allowed to do export and import business with Burma, and if any country found guilty in helping them directly or indirectly, they will be under the same sanction in the future. However, the sanctions are not applied over the not-for-profit humanitarian organizations which receives US based funding accordingly, and in regular time period.
- Cote D’Ivoire
Ivory Coast with the official name of Republic of Cote D’Ivoire is a country located in West Africa. It borders with Ghana, and other countries of Africa. It was a home of Kong Empire and Gyaaman before its independence. Ivory Coast is a republic with the power of executives to invest in the President of Ivory Coast. The country envisaged a heavy economic crisis in the year 2008 that leads to political and social turmoil of the country. Ivorian economy has relied heavily on agriculture with smallholder cash crop based production. It also has a low HDI with a number of 171st among 187 countries of the world. GDP reported by the country in the year 2014 was US$ 35 billion (Collins and Bowdoin, p.25).
- Cuba
Cuba with an official name of Republic de Cuba is an Island country located in Caribbean. The nation of the Cuba comprises on the main island of Cuba. The Island of Cuba was inhabited by numerous tribes prior to the landing of explorer Columbus in the year 1492. It is the largest island located in Caribbean with over 11 million inhabitants, the second most populous country after Hispania. Cuba ranks high in health and education, and also in the Human Development Index. Total GDP that has been reported by the economy in the year 2014 was US$ 212 billion with per capita income of US$ 18,796 in the same year (Collins and Bowdoin, p.30).
One of the longest standing US sanction is against its neighborhood to the South that was initiated due to the post revolution Cuban Government that was favored by the United States. Since then, the Cuban Dictator took the power, and the US had applied trade barriers for the country for punishing them in not having democratic rules and regulations applied in the country. Americans are not allowing any country to trade and travel with Cuban, however there are number of countries of the world which are going to Cuba for the travelling purpose. Due to high Human Development Index (HDI) with a heavy reliance on education and health, the economic sanctions of the US are not as heavy as on other countries of the world, however the trade barriers are increasing for them heavily that are creating number of problems for them in particular. However, the companies which are working in the country are in good financial health, and they are getting investment and foreign reserves from different parts of the world, which is an effective sign for the country. The time has gone and now United States should think to remove the trade barriers from Cuba, so the country can grow positively in the region as well.
- Iran
Iran which also known as Persia is a country located in Western Asia is sovereign country of the world. The official name of Iran is Republic of Iran, and it borders with Russia and its broken states. It is also borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. . Iran is known as the 2nd largest nation of the Middle East with around 78.4 million inhabitants. Iran is the only country of the world with a Caspian Sea and a coastline of Indian Ocean. It is known as the oldest civilization of the world, on which number of countries had ruled. Tehran is the largest city of Iran that serves as a commercial, cultural and industrial center of the country. Largest gas supply of the world including large reserves of fossil fuels are some of the natural resources on which the country survives with fourth largest petroleum reserves. The country reported net GDP of US$ 1.284 trillion with per capita income of US$ 16,463.
Following the Iranian revolution, wherein the Western Friendly (SHAH OF IRAN) was deposed in the core favor of theocratic government. It pushed the US Government to apply heavy regulations on the country in terms of Trade, and investment aspect (Collins and Bowdoin, p.12). It is the only trade embargo on a Middle East based country. However, the geographic importance of this particular country cannot be denied from any angle particularly. With the increasing tenuous and political problems and relations in the current scenario, the economic sanctions of Iran are a subject of continuous retaliation and hotly discussed topic. Due to high natural reserves and resources, the economic power and existence of Iran is effective, and if economic sanctions would have been removed completely from the country, then it will be effective for the country in their future economic concerns.
- North Korea
North Korea has an official name of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a country located specifically in East Asia. The name Korean derived from Goryeo, a name used for ancient kingdoms. North Korea shares a Border with China which holds as a self social state. The means of production of the country are owned by the state through the state-run-enterprises and collective based farms along with most of the services including healthcare, housing and food production. North Korea has a military first policy, which is not effective in a democratic government and country. The duty army of North Korea is 1.21 million, and known as the 4th largest army of the world that posses nuclear power. It is an economically sound, and technologically effective country of the world that may be a threat for the entire world in particular.
North Korea is an obviously the country most brutally affected from the economic Sanctions imposed by the United States. The battle of North Korea with the US started in the year 1950, with the entry of the US in the Korean War. Currently, the country is still in the way of war in terms of technology and economy. The United States maintains a stringent trade barriers and restrictions on the country from which the North Korean economy are not able to leap out positively. On the other hand, South Korea, another counterpart of Korea is a developed economy, and has no sanctions on them.
- Syria
Syria with an official name of Syrian Arab Republic is a country located in Western Asia that borders with Lebanon to the west, and Turkey from the north. Syria is known as the country of Prophets, and an important country from religious aspects of Muslims. A country with fertile plains, desserts and high mountains, is a democratic country of the world. Syria is a member of one international based organization other than that of the United Nations, the Non Aligned Movements, and it is currently suspended from the Arab League (Collins and Bowdoin, p.12). Though, it is not an economically sound and effective country of the world, but the physical presence of the country can never denied from any angle particularly. The GDP reported by the country in the year 2010 was US$ 59.92 billion with a very low per capita income amounting only to US$ 2,802. Apart from that, the HDI of the country is very low.
John Bolton, UN former Ambassador named Syria as “Beyond the Axis of Evil”. The country has weak relations with the United States because of their continuous investment and sponsorship in terrorism. Syria is one of those countries of the world that never committed to overcome on the War on Terror (WOT). As a result, the United States has applied strong trade restriction on the country, barring all of their exports as well as the financial services of the country. No country of the world is allowed to invest in the country, as the money can be used in the stance of terrorism particularly. The current situation of Syria is worse in terms of political consequences, and the chance of economically viable of the country is very weak, however there is a chance that the US will help the company to develop again in the future with their effective strategies and measures.
Conclusion
In the current scenario, economic prosperity and well being are very important for the countries all over the world. In fact every war committed in different parts of the world is now focusing over the economic consequences. There are certain aspects that found interesting in terms of economic prosperity, and effectiveness. There are two major types of economic are there known as microeconomics and macroeconomics. Both of these economics have a strong relation with the economic power of the economies. Sanctions or restrictions are some of the important aspects related to the economies particularly. In this assignment, there is an argument that needed to be examining accordingly related to the economic Sanctions applied by the United States on different parts of the world. After a critical evaluation and analysis, it is evaluated that there are six different countries of the world on which the US has applied sanctions on them, and these sanctions are the one through which all of these countries are suffering heavily. Three out of these six countries have been sanctioned due to health index and breaching of human rights policy, while other related to war on terror and other problems. However, effective actions can be taken accordingly to overcome on these issues completely, and the US along with the United Nations (UN) has to play their part to lift up unnecessary economic sanctions from the countries.
Work Cited
Askari, Hossein. Economic Sanctions. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2003. Print.
Collins, Joseph J, and Gabrielle D Bowdoin. Beyond Unilateral Economic Sanctions. Washington, DC: Central for Strategic and International Studies, 1999. Print.
Drezner, Daniel W. All Politics Is Global. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2008. Print.
Drezner, Daniel W. Theories Of International Politics And Zombies. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2011. Print.
Osieja, Helen. Economic Sanctions As An Instrument Of U.S. Foreign Policy. Boca Raton: Dissertation.com, 2006. Print.
