Scott interviews Ted Carpenter about his recent coverage of America’s sanctions policies around the world. Carpenter begins by explaining that economic sanctions are both ineffective and inhumane. For one thing, the theory that when a population is pressed hard enough they will rise up and overthrow their government has never been successfully borne out in practice. What’s more, it is never the ruling class that suffers under a sanctions program, since they will be able to ensure security and comfort for themselves no matter how desperate things get—instead, it is only the most vulnerable civilians who end up suffering from poverty, famine and deprivation. Carpenter takes us through the examples of Yemen, North Korea, Libya and Cuba to drive home his point about how disastrous America’s policies in this area have been.

Discussed on the show:

• “The Futility and Cruelty of Washington’s Economic Sanctions” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “12/18/20 Tim Shorrock on the Prospects for Peace with North Korea” (The Libertarian Institute)
• Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam
  
• The Putin Interviews
• Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism
  

Ted Galen Carpenter is a senior fellow for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. Carpenter has written 10 books including America’s Coming War with China: A Collision Course over Taiwan and most recently NATO: Dangerous Dinosaur. He is a contributing editor at The American Conservative Magazine and the National Interest.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

Podcast (thescotthortonshow): Play in new window | Download