Reiss Center on Law and Security and Center For A New American Security present: U.S. Sanctions and National Security

Featuring a Keynote Policy Address by: 

• Adam Szubin
  Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
  U.S. Department of the Treasury

A Distinguished Panel Discussion with: 

• The Honorable Sue Eckert
  Former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration;
  Senior Fellow in International and Public Affairs, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University
• Ambassador Robert M. Kimmitt
  Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury;
  Senior International Counsel, WilmerHale
• Matt Spence
  Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy,
  U.S. Department of Defense;
  Senior Fellow, Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, Yale University;

And Presentation of a New Report on Sanctions Since 9/11 by the Authors:

• Elizabeth Rosenberg
  Senior Fellow and Director, Energy, Economics, and Security Program,
  Center for a New American Security
• Zachary K. Goldman
  Executive Director, Center on Law and Security, NYU School of Law;
  Adjunct Senior Fellow, Center for a New American Security
• Daniel W. Drezner
  Professor of International Politics,
  Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
• Julia Solomon-Strauss
  Program Associate, Center on Law and Security, NYU School of Law

Watch video of the event here.

About the Event

Economic sanctions have become an increasingly important way for the United States to project power and advance its national interests. Most recently, innovative and effective sanctions have addressed Iran’s nuclear program and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, demonstrating the importance of coercive economic measures to U.S. foreign policy. But as sanctions have become a key piece of the U.S. strategy abroad, policymakers and thought leaders have raised questions about the role, effectiveness, and centrality of sanctions in U.S. policy.

This CNAS public conference on U.S. sanctions and national security, co-hosted with the Center on Law and Security at NYU School of Law, featured an overview of administration policy on sanctions and a discussion among distinguished former policy leaders on the role for coercive economic measures in tackling the security challenges of the future. The event coincided with the release of a CNAS report on the effects and effectiveness of sanctions since 9/11. Some questions this conference will explore include: how can the United States measure and achieve intended effects from the use of coercive economic measures? What place should sanctions have in the U.S. national security arsenal? And as American rivals become more familiar with the tools of economic statecraft, what defensive measures are available to protect U.S. interests from retaliation for the imposition of sanctions?