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This Energy Explained post represents the research and views of the author. It does not necessarily represent the views of the Center on Global Energy Policy. The piece...
As President Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan laid out a strategy for what he called a “foreign policy for the middle class.” Using the metaphor of a...
Please join the Women in Energy initiative at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA for a public roundtable featuring Claire Steichen, Founder of Clear Strategy Coaching. The fast-evolving energy...
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• Online
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How Sanctions Backfire: A Book Talk and Fireside Chat with Agathe Demarais
Past Event
November 16, 2022
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
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Sanctions have become the go-to foreign policy tool for the United States. Coercive economic measures such as trade tariffs, financial penalties, and export controls affect large numbers of companies and states across the globe. Some of these penalties target nonstate actors, such as Colombian drug cartels and Islamist terror groups; others apply to entire countries, including North Korea, Venezuela, Iran, and Russia. U.S. policy makers see sanctions as a low-cost tactic, but in reality these measures often fail to achieve their intended goals — and their potent side effects can harm American interests.
Backfire, the new book by Agathe Demarais, the global forecasting director of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), explores the surprising ways sanctions affect multinational companies, governments, and ultimately millions of people around the world. Drawing on interviews with experts, policymakers, and people in sanctioned countries, Demarais examines the unintended consequences sanctions can have when used as a diplomatic weapon. The proliferation of sanctions spurs efforts to evade them, as states and firms seek ways to circumvent U.S. penalties. This is only part of the story. Sanctions also reshape relations between countries, pushing governments that are at odds with the U.S. closer to each other — or, increasingly, to Russia and China.
Full of insights spanning a wide range of topics, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to Iran’s COVID response and China’s cryptocurrency ambitions, Backfire reveals how sanctions are transforming geopolitics and the global economy — as well as diminishing U.S. influence. This insider’s account is an eye-opening, accessible, and timely book that sheds light on the future of sanctions in an increasingly multipolar world.
The Center on Global Energy Policy and the Center for a New American Security hosted a fireside chat with Agathe Demarais moderated by Edward Fishman, CGEP Senior Research Scholar, CNAS Adjunct Senior Fellow, and former member of Secretary of State John Kerry’s Policy Planning Staff. Their discussion focused on key findings of Backfire, the latest Columbia University Press release in the Center on Global Energy Policy series.
Please join the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA for a rapid response briefing with Kadri Simson, CGEP Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Institute of Global Politics Carnegie Distinguished Fellow,...
Energy finance is transforming rapidly amid shifting political and economic dynamics in the U.S. and globally. As the landscape becomes increasingly complex, we will explore key legal insights,...
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• Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
31 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019, USA
Chokepoints tells the epic story of how America turned the world economy into a weapon, upending decades of globalization to confront a new authoritarian axis—Russia, China, and Iran. In...
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• The Foyer, 2nd Floor
The Forum at Columbia University
The Columbia Global Energy Summit 2024 is an annual event dedicated to thought-provoking discussions around the critical energy and climate challenges facing the global community.
The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) framework[1] was designed to help accelerate the energy transition in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) while embedding socioeconomic[2] considerations into its planning and implementation.
Commentary
by Gautam Jain & Ganis Bustami• March 03, 2025
This analysis provides an overview of changes in production and economic outcomes in US oil and gas regions, grouping them by recent trends and examining their impact on local economies.
