Finance and economics | Handle with care

Sanctions are now a central tool of governments’ foreign policy

The more they are used, however, the less effective they become

IN 2016 JACK LEW, America’s then treasury secretary, reflected on how his country had, over decades, “refined our capacity to apply sanctions effectively”. But he also gave a warning: overuse “could undermine our leadership position within the global economy, and the effectiveness of our sanctions themselves”.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Handle with care”

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