Economic sanctions and state-sponsored terrorism: the case of Iran. Issue 5 (3rd September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Yaohui; Shen, Yupeng; Han, Zhaoying
• Is Part Of: Israel affairs. Volume 28:Issue 5(2022)
• Page Start: 645
• Page End: 660
• Publication Date: 2022-09-03
• Subjects: Economic sanctions -- state-sponsored terrorism -- retrenchment strategy -- Iran -- Israel -- Hezbollah -- Hamas -- Palestinian Islamic Jihad; Israel -- History -- 1933- -- Periodicals; 956.94054
• DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2022.2112376
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1353-7121

Abstract

ABSTRACT: While economic sanctions are often used as a foreign policy tool to fight state-sponsored terrorism, their efficacy remains unclear. This article argues that the intensifying economic hardship caused by sanctions forces the targeted governments to undertake a retrenchment strategy, which in turn reduces the overall frequency of state-sponsored terrorist attacks. Using cross-sectional-time-series data of Iranian-backed terrorism from 1987 to 2005, the article shows that sanctions against the Iranian regime were instrumental in reducing terrorist attacks by Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).