Economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations remain a useful and powerful diplomatic tool, a University of Notre Dame sanctions expert testified Tuesday at a hearing of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations.

The U.N. has sharpened the sanctions tool since the 1990soil-for-foodprogram targetingIraqgave sanctions a bad reputation, according to George A. Lopez. Sanctions reforms have been significant and are ongoing, he added.

Lopez is a senior fellow at Notre Dames Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace 91ÊÓƵ. He based his comments on 15 years of scholarly research and consulting for the U.N. and its member nations.

He listed the circumstances under which sanctions are most effective, including:

• The U.N. Security Council details a clear and limited number of demands in the sanctions resolution

• The sanctions adopted by the council and its members are one component of a more multifaceted means of persuasion/coercion

• The committee charged with oversight has an active and creative chair who travels to the sanctioned state/area

• An internal or external expert committee monitors sanctionseffectiveness and recommends improvements which are acted upon swiftly

• The council has made provisions for humanitarian exceptions, as needed

Early economic sanctions against Saddam Husseins regime inIraqcut supplies of food and medicine to the Iraqi people. The oil-for-food program, set up to allow sales of oil if proceeds were spent on food, opened the door to corruption and has been the subject of intense investigation.

UN sanctions fail, Lopez said, when:

• They are excessively punitive and isolate a target from continued bargaining with the Security Council or member states

• Leaders of the targeted country or party portray the U.N. as the offending party and deflect the focus from their own behavior

• The Security Council or its members fail to recognize partial compliance

• Certain Security Council member countries overtake the voice and role of the council as leader of the sanctions process

• Successful application of economic coercion on the target produces no change in political behavior or compliance

The complete report prepared by Lopez for the subcommittee is available on-line at

Tuesdays hearing, titledUN Sanctions After Oil-for-Food: Still a Viable Diplomatic Tool?began with questioning of John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn.

Professor Lopez can be reached for additional comment at glopez@nd.edu , or 574-631-6972.

_ Contact: Julie Titone, director of communications, Kroc Institute for International Peace 91ÊÓƵ, jtitone@nd.edu or 574-631-8819_ . _
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In November 2004, 20 months after theUnited Statesoverthrew Saddam Husseins dictatorship, three University of Notre Dame experts with differing viewpoints met to address the question:Should theU.S.withdraw, stay the course, or engage more deeply inIraq?Now, another 15 months later, the panelists will meet again, at4:15 p.m.Jan. 31 (Tuesday), to ponder the question:Iraq: What now?The discussion in the auditorium of theHesburghCenterfor International 91ÊÓƵ is free and open to the public.

The panelists will be Lt. Col. Kelly Jordan, commanding officer of Notre Dames Army ROTC;Dan Lindley, assistant professor of political science; and George Lopez, senior fellow of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace 91ÊÓƵ.

Lindley, who previously argued that theU.S.should engage more deeply inIraq, will note that his perspective has changed.

Last year, I recommended that we treatIraqlike the emergency it is and ramp up forces considerably as security is an essential pre-condition for political and economic development,he said.This year, that course is politically impossible, and the range ofU.S.options is greatly constrained.

Lopez suggested in 2004 that theU.S.should begin a staged withdrawal that would allow for the Iraqi government to get on its feet. Now, hes skeptical that American troops can accomplish anything.

The only difference theU.S.makes is that it protects some Iraqis in the green zone from being attacked,he said.Other than that, our presence provides a good target, a rallyingrationale to bind together varied violent groups, and creates little incentive for Iraqi political forces or the army to take control of their future.

Jordanwill provide the Defense Department position ofstaying the courseinIraq.He replaces the previous ROTC panelist, assistant professor of military science Gary Masapollo, who has been assigned to the naval station atGuantanamo Bay,Cuba, where he serves on a tribunal reviewing cases of detainees.

The event is sponsored by the Kroc Institute, the ROTC Command, and the Center for Social Concerns.

_ Contact: Julie Titone, director of communications, Kroc Institute, 574-631-8819, jtitone@nd.edu _

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