The Problem of Determining International Economic Sanctions in Modern Science

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to conduct a comparative analysis of the approaches established in Russian and foreign doctrine to the definition of the term “sanctions” (in the context of “international economic sanctions”). The author examines the content of the term “sanctions”, including through their typology, and also offers his own typology of international economic sanctions based on modern sanctions regulation. The relevance of the article is investigated due to the need to form unified doctrinal approaches to the definition of international economic sanctions. At the same time, the correct application of the category under consideration is of great scientific and practical importance. For a long time, the doctrine was dominated by the approach that sanctions should be understood exclusively as sanctions of the UN Security Council. This approach is still seen as correct from the standpoint of the conceptual and categorical apparatus of international law, but at the same time, it is outdated, not reflecting modern international economic sanctions. In the course of the research, the author comes to the conclusion that through the prism of modern practice of applying unilateral sanctions in scientific research, the term “sanctions” is used synonymously with the term “unilateral restrictive measures”. The article suggests a hypothesis about the possibility of moving away from the strictly formal approach of defining international sanctions exclusively as collective coercive measures. Of particular interest is the typology of sanctions proposed in the framework of the article as reflecting modern sanctions realities.