| Economic sanctions have played an increasingly important role in the resolution of international disputes and crises,making this instrument a highly visible tool in the international political arena and a preferred nonviolent policy tool for countries and international organizations in dealing with challenging diplomatic issues.The Russia-Ukraine conflict that erupted in 2022 has pushed economic sanctions into the spotlight of global attention,becoming the focus of major world media coverage and international discussion,and receiving unprecedented attention.But what are economic sanctions? In general,economic sanctions are used to create economic pain and hardship for the sanctioned country by restricting or prohibiting trade,financial and other economic activities with the sanctioned country,with the aim of forcing the government of the sanctioned country to change its original behavior,position or policy and to act in accordance with the wishes of the sanction initiating country.As one of the most commonly used instruments in international relations,economic sanctions have a prominent place among the policy tools,however,they are also notoriously controversial.As an important tool for responding to international crises,economic sanctions may have a peaceful dispute resolution effect in some cases compared to forceful intervention,but economic sanctions are not completely free of side effects.In fact,economic sanctions often bring serious adverse reactions to the sanctioned countries and their populations,including causing inflation,rising unemployment,and lagging infrastructure development.Under severe sanctions policies,economic sanctions may even lead to social unrest and humanitarian crises.Although the purpose of sanctions is to bring about change in the government of the sanctioned country,in practice,the burden of sanctions is often borne by the general population.In such cases,sanctions may exacerbate poverty and social injustice,further affecting the lives of the people in the sanctioned country.In view of this,this requires that when imposing economic sanctions,the relevant countries or international organizations should fully consider the intended objectives and the pre-caused results of the proposed sanctions,ensure that the implementation of economic sanctions is justified,appropriate,necessary and balanced,and prohibit excessive economic sanctions.Therefore,in order to address the practical challenges posed by economic sanctions,this study advocates the incorporation of the principle of proportionality in the imposition of economic sanctions.The principle of proportionality,as the preferred solution for dealing with conflicts involving two rights,provides a harmonious and balanced approach between competing interests,which requires the maintenance of relative reasonableness and appropriateness in weighing different rights or interests in order to achieve a just or reasonable outcome.In the case of economic sanctions,the principle of proportionality actually ensures that economic sanctions imposed by the relevant state or international organization are lawful,appropriate,and in accordance with the norms of international law by comprehensively weighing and comparing international or national security and foreign policy objectives with the human rights interests of the people affected by the sanctions,thereby achieving a balance among competing interests.Applying the principle of proportionality to economic sanctions helps to achieve the objectives of sanctions while reducing the negative impact on innocent people,thus achieving a more balanced outcome in terms of effectiveness and humanitarianism of economic sanctions.This thesis is divided into five main chapters,in addition to an introductory and concluding section.The first chapter outlines the theoretical foundations and development of economic sanctions and the principle of proportionality.This chapter focuses on the various types of economic sanctions,their legality,and their effectiveness,and details the background of the origins and historical evolution of the principle of proportionality.Given that these topics have been extensively studied in domestic and international scholarship,the first chapter aims to be concise and clear.This chapter is unique in that it sorts out the basic concepts and connotations of economic sanctions and the principle of proportionality,laying a solid theoretical foundation for in-depth exploration in subsequent chapters.The second chapter focuses on analyzing the intrinsic connection between economic sanctions and the principle of proportionality.This chapter focuses on the reasons,foundations,possibilities,and specific methodological approaches for the application of the principle of proportionality in economic sanctions.After an in-depth discussion,it is concluded that the principle of proportionality can be applied in the context of economic sanctions because of the causal relationship between comprehensive,targeted,or unilateral secondary sanctions and human rights crises,a relationship that leads to the actual fact of violation and the reality of a harmful situation.And it is based on this injurious precondition that provides a methodology for the principle of proportionality in its subsequent application,guiding the international community on how to appropriately formulate and implement economic sanctions.Chapter 3 focuses on the practical application of the principle of proportionality in the game of economic sanctions and human rights protection,and conducts an empirical study of it.By analyzing the comprehensive sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council on Iraq and the unilateral economic sanctions imposed by the United States against Cuba,this chapter explores the application and lack of application of the principle of proportionality in these specific cases.This comparative analysis helps provide valuable insights and suggestions for the international community’s practice in the game of economic sanctions and human rights protection.Chapter 4 analyzes in detail the application of the principle of proportionality in the game of economic sanctions and human rights protection,in short,it discusses the practical application of the principle of proportionality in four aspects: the legitimacy of the goal,the appropriateness of the means,the necessity of the act,and the equilibrium of the impact.Finally,the article affirms the positive role of the principle of proportionality in the game of economic sanctions and human rights protection,but also recognizes that there are certain limitations in practice.Therefore,in addition to strengthening the application of the proportionality principle,there is a need to explore other supporting measures to promote the future development of economic sanctions and human rights protection.Therefore,in the last part of the paper,a series of recommendations and measures are proposed to promote the harmonious development of economic sanctions and human rights protection,so as to better maintain international peace and security.In addition to making recommendations,this chapter also turns the focus to the actual situation of China when facing the challenge of economic sanctions and puts forward the view that the prudent and restrained adoption of countermeasures is a concrete manifestation of China’s search for a balance between the game of economic sanctions and human rights protection. |
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