Just sanctions

This article begins the process of crafting a moral approach to sanctions through the laws of just war. Part II briefly considers the nature of economic sanctions and posits an explanation of why states increasingly resort to sanctions to pursue foreign policy objectives. With that context established, the article then analyzes economic sanctions through the prism of just war. This inquiry is divided into two parts to mirror the just war tradition's separation of jus ad bellum (justice in commencing war) and jus in bello (justice in the fighting of war). Part III proposes moral guidelines for the decision to enact sanctions against a foreign nation. Part IV suggests what sorts of sanctions can be adopted in accordance with the principles of the just war tradition.