George A. Lopez, professor of peace studies at the Keough School of Global Affairs, provided expert commentary on the Trump administration’s use of sanctions against Hezbollah officials in Lebanon in a New York Times article Tuesday.
According to the article, the administration imposed the sanctions as a move against supposed allies of the Iranian government. The use of economic sanctions for political leverage has been a trademark of U.S. foreign policy under Trump, Lopez said.
“The notion of simply listing people and freezing their accounts without evidence of their specific financial support to Iran or specific terrorist activities, that is a reach,” said Lopez, an expert in economic sanctions. “But it is consistent with the use — some would say misuse — of sanctions by this administration. The emphasis is less on direct causal linkage and more guilt by association.”
Originally published at nytimes.com on July 9, 2019.
