Geneva, 22-23 June 2026

The two-day intensive course will be taught by Clara Portela, the University of Valencia, Thomas Biersteker, Geneva Graduate Institute and Dawid Walentek, Ghent University. It will focus on cutting edge quantitative and qualitative approaches to sanctions. The course is aimed at both junior and senior scholars interested in expanding their methodological toolkit on sanctions research.

The course is free of charge, participants have to cover accommodation and travel costs.

Send an email with your interest of participation to Dawid Walentek (dawid.walentek@ugent.be).

14-18 July 2025, Utrecht University (The Netherlands)

Over the years, unilateral sanctions have been making the headlines. Such measures are to be distinguished by sanctions adopted by an international organization against its member states, such as UN Security Council sanctions. Undoubtedly, the most reported upon sanctions are those adopted by the EU and the US against Russia for its aggression against Ukraine. These measures are frequently referred to as ‘unprecedented’. Actors adopting sanctions have gone out of their way to impose maximum costs on Russia by freezing its Central Bank assets, blocking its access to SWIFT, prohibiting import of Russian goods, etc. To ensure third states comply with their restrictions, they have progressively extended their jurisdictional reach. More recently, some scholars and states have suggested that temporarily frozen assets of Russian nationals and authorities can be confiscated and used to repay damages caused to Ukraine.

Russia is, of course, not the only state under sanctions. Zimbabwe, Iran, Syria, and Venezuela have been targeted by various restrictions. The latter has sought to challenge the measures imposed on it before the ICC, arguing the US sanctions amount to crimes against humanity. Unilateral sanctions have evolved to more horizontal regimes, such as the US’s Magnistky Act and the EU’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, where not only states but also private entities and individuals can be targeted for human rights violations.

Whereas there is much commentary on these measures’ effectiveness and political implications, there is very little discussion on the legality of these measures. How far can states and organizations, such as the EU, go when imposing such measures? Are there any limits under general international law that these actors should be aware of lest their responsibility can be invoked? Importantly, one should ask how unilateral sanctions influence and shape international politics? What is their impact on the ‘international order’, and are they an effective at enforcing, or at least promoting, international norms?

Distinguishing unilateral sanctions from UN Security Council measures, the course will focus on how international law regulates restrictions imposed by the EU and the US, as well as the effectiveness of sanctions at enforcing international norms. It will also consider how ‘non-Western’ states perceive such policy tools. 

More information, as well as the link to apply, are available here.

Lecturers

Thomas Biersteker, Graduate Institute (Geneva)

Dawid Walentek, Ghent University

Dates

Spring 2025 (31/03-01/04) Ghent University

Spring 2026 (dates TBC), Graduate Institute Geneva 

Course details

This course is aimed at research staff, PhD candidates and (advanced) master students interested in (starting) research on economic sanctions. The course is open to all backgrounds (e.g., law, economics, political science); however, basic familiarity with quantitative or/and qualitative research methods are an advantage. The course consists of two meetings. The first meeting focuses on quantitative approaches to economic sanctions and second meeting is dedicated to qualitative methods. The course follows a “hands-on” approach and is centred around learning through replication of the existing scholarship (both quantitative and qualitative). In the quantitative component participants will become familiar with the one of main databases used in research on economic sanctions – and learn about the differences, similarities and limitations of in relation to other data set. Then participants will proceed to replicate a number of core findings in the literature and gain first-hand experience in working with sanctions data. In the qualitative component participants will learn how to identify core resources – both in respect to primary data and potential avenues for fieldwork. Then, again through replication of existing work, participants will gain experience in working with case-study research in addition to exploring integrated qualitative/quantitative data bases such as the TSC data efforts. Participants are expected to attend both days of the course.

15-19 July 2024, Utrecht University (The Netherlands)

Description

Over the years, unilateral sanctions have been making the headlines. Such measures are to be distinguished by sanctions adopted by an international organization against its member states, such as UN Security Council sanctions. Undoubtedly, the most reported upon sanctions are those adopted by the EU and the US against Russia for its aggression against Ukraine. These measures are frequently referred to as ‘unprecedented’. Actors adopting sanctions have gone out of their way to impose maximum costs on Russia by freezing its Central Bank assets, blocking its access to SWIFT, prohibiting import of Russian goods, etc. To ensure third states comply with their restrictions, they have progressively extended their jurisdictional reach. More recently, some scholars and states have suggested that temporarily frozen assets of Russian nationals and authorities can be confiscated and used to repay damages caused to Ukraine.

Russia is, of course, not the only state under sanctions. Zimbabwe, Iran, Syria, and Venezuela have been targeted by various restrictions. The latter has sought to challenge the measures imposed on it before the ICC, arguing the US sanctions amount to crimes against humanity. Unilateral sanctions have evolved to more horizontal regimes, such as the US's Magnistky Act and the EU's Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, where not only states but also private entities and individuals can be targeted for human rights violations.

Whereas there is much commentary on these measures’ effectiveness and political implications, there is very little discussion on the legality of these measures. How far can states and organizations, such as the EU, go when imposing such measures? Are there any limits under general international law that these actors should be aware of lest their responsibility can be invoked? Importantly, one should ask how unilateral sanctions influence and shape international politics? What is their impact on the ‘international order’, and are they an effective at enforcing, or at least promoting, international norms?

Distinguishing unilateral sanctions from UN Security Council measures, the course will focus on how international law regulates restrictions imposed by the EU and the US, as well as the effectiveness of sanctions at enforcing international norms. It will also consider how ‘non-Western’ states perceive such policy tools.