Panel: U.S. Sanctions and Deterrence

On December 16, CNAS hosted a public event on the U.S. use of sanctions for national security and foreign policy goals. Though sanctions are a primary policy instrument of the administration and Congress, their use by the United States often sends mixed signals about policy intent to adversaries and partners. This risks undermining foreign policy goals and U.S. national security. If the United States wishes to use sanctions instruments to greater effect policy leaders need to improve their ability to signal to foreign powers and deter national security threats.

This panel: (1) discussed policies the U.S. administration and Congress should adopt to improve messaging and deterrence in the use of sanctions and (2) offered a novel framework for national security leaders to understand the place of sanctions in escalating confrontation with adversaries.

The event coincided with the release of the new CNAS report titled Strengthening the Economic Arsenal: Bolstering the Deterrent and Signaling Effects of Sanctions, co-authored by Elizabeth Rosenberg and Jordan Tama.

Featured Panelists:

David S. Cohen
Partner, WilmerHale;
Former Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency;
Former Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence

Susanna V. Blume
Senior Fellow and Defense Program Director, Center for a New American Security;
Former Deputy Chief of Staff for Programs and Plans to the Deputy Secretary of Defense

Eric B. Lorber
Director, Financial Integrity Network;
Senior Director, Center on Economic and Financial Power, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Jordan Tama
Associate Professor, School of International Service, American University;
Co-Director, Bridging the Gap Project

Elizabeth Rosenberg
Senior Fellow and Energy, Economics, and Security Program Director, Center for a New American Security;
Former Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence

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