The Impact of Economic Sanctions on Landlocked States (Comparative Case Studies of CAR and Mali)
Author:
Anna Sharova
Abstract:
Landlocked states are a special category of countries whose economic and social development is associated with a number of additional difficulties due to their geographical location. Among them are: limitation of participation in the international division of labor, high transport costs and costs associated with bureaucratic procedures for crossing the borders of third countries, as well as reducing the competitiveness of exports. The African continent has the largest number of such states. Simultaneously with the indicated political and geographical feature, various sanctions are in force or imposed on a number of this category of African countries, both by the UN and states individually. The sum of these factors negatively affected the development of these states. This article examines in detail two country cases of applying international sanctions against landlocked African countries: the CAR and Mali.
The study led to the conclusion that the effectiveness of sanctions imposed against these countries and targeted sanctions against members of their political elites is low. The main damage and negative consequences are for the general population, since they directly relate to everyday life needs and requirements. For a significant part of the population of both countries, the costs of sanctions are compensated by the possibilities of the “economy of war”: illegal extraction of local natural resources, smuggling and speculation of essential goods.
Peculiarities of the country’s geographical position, lack of access to the sea, under these conditions, can serve as a factor for further “decoupling” of elites from the sanctions issue and the continuation of their policies.
Keywords:
international sanctions, elites, economic development, landlocked countries
DOI:
10.31132/2412-5717-2019-48-3-49-63
References:
1. Ahmed B. Militia head refutes his group responsible for Mali massacre Associated Press. https://www.apnews.com/13ac5c60aca4442fba62d831a81ce7b9 (accessed 12.07.2019)
2. Avoiding the Worst in Central African Republic International Crisis Group. Africa Report No. 253, September 2017, 36 p. https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/central-africa/central-african-republic/253-avoiding-worst-central-african-republic (accessed 23.07.2019)
3. Chand D. Trade Embargo as a Geopolitical Tool: A Case of Nepal-India Trade Relations. Polish Political Science Review, 2018. Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 50–67. DOI: 10.2478/ppsr-2018-0004.
4. DeWitt J.D., Chirico P.G., Bergstresser S.E., Clark, I.E. The Central African Republic Diamond Database – A geodatabase of archival diamond occurrences and areas of recent artisanal and small-scale diamond mining U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2018–1088, September 2018, 28 p. https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2018/1088/ofr20181088.pdf (accessed 25.07.2019)
5. Faye M.L., McArthur J.W., Sachs J.D., Snow T. The Challenges Facing Landlocked Developing Countries. Journal of Human Development, 2004. Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 31–68. DOI: 10.1080/ 14649880310001660201.
6. Fituni L.L., Abramova I.O. Resource Potential of Africa and Russia’s National Interests In The XXI Century Moscow, 2010.
7. Fituni L.L. “Sankcionnoe targetirovanie”: instrument vneshnej politiki, nechestnoj konkurencii ili global’nogo social’nogo inzhiniringa? (Targeted Sanctions: a Tool of Foreign Policy, Unfair Competition or Global Social Engineering?). Vestnik MGIMO-Universiteta (MGIMO Review of International Relations), 2019. No. 3 (66), pp. 17–41. DOI: 10.24833/2071-8160-2019-3-66-17-41.
8. Grauvogel J. Regional Sanctions against Burundi: A Powerful Campaign and Its Unintended Consequences / GIGA Research Unit: Institute of African Affairs. GIGA Working Paper No. 225, September 2014, 26 p. https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/system/files/publications/wp255_ grauvogel_0.pdf (accessed 29.07.2019)
9. Gold mine production, April 2019 GoldHub. https://www.gold.org/goldhub/data/historical-mine-production (accessed 10.07.2019)
10. Hufbauer G.C., Schott J.J., Elliott K.A., В.Oegg. Economic Sanctions reconsidered. 3rd edition. Washington DC. Peterson Institute for International Economics. 2007. 233 p. ISBN: 978-0881324129.
11. Human Development Indices and Indicators: 2018 Statistical Update United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2018, 113 p. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2018_human_ development_statistical_update.pdf (accessed 29.07.2019)
12. Komitet Soveta Bezopasnosti, uchrezhdennyj rezolyuciej 2127 (2013) po Central’noafrikanskoj respublike (Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013) concerning the Central African Republic) Sovet Bezopasnosti OON (United Nations Security Council). https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/ru/sanctions/2127 (accessed 20.07.2019)
13. Komitet Soveta Bezopasnosti, uchrezhdennyj rezolyuciej 2374 (2017) po Mali (Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2374 (2017) Concerning Mali) Sovet Bezopasnosti OON (United Nations Security Council). https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/ru/sanctions/2374 (accessed 11.07.2019)
14. Korendyasov E.N., Sharova A.Yu. Prezidentskie vybory v Mali: vybory bez vybora? (Presidential elections in Mali: elections without a choice?) Institut Afriki RAN: aktual’nyj kommentarij. https://www.inafran.ru/node/1792 (accessed 11.07.2019)
15. MINUSMA – faktologicheskij byulleten’ (MINUSMA – fact sheet) OON (UN). https://peacekeeping.un.org/ru/mission/minusma (accessed 11.07.2019)
16. More than 130 Fulani massacred as ethnic and jihadist violence escalates in Mali France24. https://www.france24.com/en/20190323-mali-100-fulani-herders-massacred-donzo-ogossagou-ethnic-violence (accessed 12.07.2019)
17. Note verbale dated 13 December 2017 from the Permanent Mission of Zambia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General UN General Assembly A/72/ 656, 18 December 2017, 6 p. http://unohrlls.org/custom-content/uploads/2018/08/N1744963-2017-revised-rules-of-procedure-002.pdf (accessed 22.07.2019)
18. Respublika Mali (Republic of Mali) / Ministerstvo inostrannyh del RF (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation). http://www.mid.ru/ru/maps/ml/?currentpage=main-country (accessed 11.07.2019)
19. The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC): Mali MIT Media Lab. https://atlas.media.mit. edu/ru/profile/country/mli/ (accessed 11.07.2019)
20. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. https://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_ historical_ perspective.htm (accessed 21.07.2019)
21. UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda: Countries with Special Needs – OHRLLS UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, May 2012, 11 p. http://unohrlls.org/ publications-2/ (accessed 31.07.2019)
22. World Economic Outlook 2019 International Monetary Fund (IMF), April 2019. https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/datasets/WEO (accessed 20.07.2019)
23. World population prospects 2019 UN Population Division. https://population.un.org/wpp/ DataQuery/ (accessed 29.07.2019)
