VOA常速英语2008年-Imposing Sanctions Is Easy, Making Them Work Is

By Margaret Besheer
New York
10 March 2008
 

For decades, sanctions have been used as a diplomatic tool to pressure governments to change their bad behavior. VOA's Margaret Besheer takes a look at how sanctions are imposed and enforced.

When a country feels it is necessary to impose sanctions on another government, the head of state or the national legislature has the authority to impose punitive¹ measures.

But Professor Tom Weiss of the City University of New York says unilateral sanctions are difficult to enforce.

"Rarely does a single country have enough leverage² to make sanctions work because there are always alternative sources of supply," said Weiss. "And there are numerous ways for a country that is sanctioned to break the sanctions."

Since few countries have the influence necessary to enforce effective sanctions on their own, they usually go through the United Nations Security Council in the hopes of imposing³ comprehensive sanctions that have the broad support of member states.

 

The Security Council has used its power to impose sanctions when international peace has been threatened and diplomatic efforts have failed. In the last few years, the trend has been toward targeted or so-called "smart" sanctions. They include economic and trade sanctions, arms embargoes⁴, travel bans and financial measures, such as freezing assets.

Gary Hufbauer of the Peterson Institute for International Economics says smart sanctions are directed at regimes and tend to spare suffering within the general population.

"If you can somehow deprive the elite⁵ of their bank accounts, of their schools in Switzerland, their travels and so forth⁶, at least you don't penalize⁷ ordinary people," said Hufbauer. "So the plus of that is that you don't have the bad side of sanctions, which is widespread ill-health or malnourishment, especially of older people and children, which causes a lot of backlash."

Just this month [March 2008], the Security Council used its mandate⁸ to impose targeted sanctions against the Iranian government for its controversial nuclear activities, which some nations believe is a cover for a secret nuclear weapons program. Professor Weiss says this latest round of sanctions against Iran is likely to only have a symbolic⁹ impact.

"The regime [in Iran] is clearly not keen to have these sanctions," he said. They clearly want to be a member of the international community of states and they spent a lot of diplomatic effort to make sure these sanctions did not come about. Not because it is going to have a real impact, in terms of day-to-day economics, but it is going to have a large, symbolic impact."

Once the Security Council imposes sanctions, such as the ones against Iran, there are several specialized¹⁰ U.N. agencies and other intergovernmental organizations that play a role in their monitoring, implementation¹¹ and compliance¹².

One of the most important is Interpol -- the world's largest international police organization. More than 180 countries belong to Interpol, and the organization's highly trained personnel help enforce arms embargoes, travel bans and financial sanctions. International customs and aviation authorities are also key to enforcement.

Regional organizations such as the European Union, the Arab League and the Organization of American States have also played important roles in sanctions enforcement.

But despite international efforts to enforce sanctions, many experts say they cannot be used on their own and need to be part of a broader equation in order to be effective.

1 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

2 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

3 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

4 embargoes   

贸易禁运令，禁运( embargo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Britain, France and the United States refused to lift their embargoes. 英、法和美国都拒绝取消禁运。
• Its public position is that it abides by all UN arms embargoes. 其公开立场是，他们遵守所有联合国的武器禁运命令。

5 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

6 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

7 penalize   

vt.对…处以刑罚，宣告…有罪；处罚

参考例句：

• It would be unfair to penalize those without a job.失业人员待遇低下是不公平的。
• The association decided not to penalize you for the race.赛马协会决定对你不予处罚。

8 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

9 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

10 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

11 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

12 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。