Economic sanctions have been widely used in recent decades as an alternative to military threats. There are several reasons why different governments impose economic sanctions. The most common of them are the attempts to destabilize rogue regimes in sanctioned countries, discourage local hostilities, prevent war, limit the abuse of human rights, and promote democracy (Felbermayr et al., 2019). While sanctions pursue seemingly noble goals, they may lead to issues with free and fair trade. The US, along with the EU, is among the countries that use economic sanctions to achieve their political and economic goals the most frequently (Felbermayr et al., 2019). This paper aims to review a recent article on US sanctions against Myanmar military officials and discuss the importance of this issue for the global community.
The Article Summary
The article under consideration is entitled “Biden Imposes Sanctions on Generals Who Engineered Myanmar Coup.” It was written by David Sanger and published in the New York Times in February 2021. The article says that Mr. Biden has imposed sanctions on Myanmar military leaders and their families in an attempt to force them to restore democracy in Myanmar. The sanctions include preventing Myanmar generals from “gaining access to $1 billion in funds their government keeps in the United States,” as well as other restrictions (Sanger, 2021, para. 1). Although the US has taken steps to restore democracy in Myanmar, Sanger (2021) argues that these measures may not be enough. The reason for this is that Myanmar has weak trade relationships with the US, so the US might want to encourage China to join its sanctions effort because it has much impact on Myanmar’s economy (Sanger, 2021). However, China has not expressed its discontent with Myanmar’s political situation yet.
The article further claims that Mr. Biden’s sanctions have several subtexts. First, Mr. Biden aims to show that he uses sanctions to advocate American values and human rights, as opposed to the Trump administration (Sanger, 2021). Second, Mr. Biden attempts to encourage other countries to join him in his sanction efforts, which will distinguish him from Trump, who did not pay much attention to getting allies (Sanger, 2021). Finally, Mr. Biden’s sanctions will demonstrate whether the current US president can work with China and compete with it in the Pacific region. Sanger (2021) concludes the article by stating that Mr. Biden’s sanctions can lead to cooperation between the US and China to avoid the split among Southeast Asian countries.
The Issue
In 2011, Myanmar made an attempt to shift from its military rule to democracy. Its weak democratic regime lasted until February 1, 2021, when the military coup took place. The coup was caused by the military leaders’ disagreement with the results of the election, on which the National League for Democracy won the majority of votes. Myanmar military leaders detained the country’s civilian leaders and seized control of the country’s government and infrastructure. The military leaders’ actions led to national protests and international response. Mr. Biden, along with some other world leaders, demanded that Myanmar military leaders should release the detained government officials and accept the election results. The main issues at hand are the violation of the principles of democracy, the disrespect of people’s votes, and the hindrance to democratic reforms in Myanmar.
The Importance of the Issue to the Global Community
While the coup in Myanmar threatens the democracy in this country, Mr. Biden’s sanctions in response to the coup can influence not only Myanmar but also other members of the global community. According to Felbermayr et al. (2019), if sanctions are imposed on a country that barely trades with the rest of the world, they are unlikely to bring the intended results. As was mentioned by Sanger (2021), Myanmar does not trade much with the US, but it has close trade relationships with China. Therefore, the US is interested in persuading China to support its sanctions to make Myanmar comply with US demands. However, China may not benefit from supporting US sanctions because it may lose its important trading partner and set other Southeast Asian countries against itself. In addition, US sanctions may affect other countries that run business in Myanmar because they will have to be very careful not to violate the sanctions.
The Evaluation of the Source
The article was published in a reputable newspaper, The New York Times. It is a daily newspaper having a large number of subscribers and providing reliable information on various topics, ranging from business and politics to food and travel. The author of the article under review is a national security correspondent with 36 years of experience in writing reports for the New York Times. Three teams, in which he was a member, won Pulitzer Prizes, which proves his expertise and credibility. The article was published on February 10, 2021, and updated on February 12, which makes it recent enough to qualify for the present paper.
Personal Opinion
In my opinion, economic sanctions are a feasible alternative to military actions, but they are not without flaws. As Felbermayr et al. (2019) point out, economic sanctions negatively influence trade flaws, and, sometimes, the number of the affected trade flows is quite significant. Therefore, I can conclude that sanctions threaten free and fair trade, especially in the sanctioned countries. In the event described in the article by Sanger (2021), Myanmar’s trade is unlikely to be much affected by the US sanctions. However, in my opinion, if the US manages to get allies that have close trade relationships with Myanmar, the sanctioned country, as well as other countries running a business on its territory, will experience significant negative consequences.
References
Felbermayr, G., Syropoulos, C., Yalcin, E., & Yotov, Y. V. (2019). On the effects of sanctions on trade and welfare: New evidence based on structural gravity and a new database. Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Web.
Sanger, D. E. (2021). Biden imposes sanctions on generals who engineered the Myanmar coup. The New York Times. Web.