Home > History, Political Science > Vol 1 No 1 June 2013 Abstract 1
National Interests and the Sanctions Strategy 1959-2013
Mediel Hove, Heather Chingono
Review of History and Political Science, 1(1), pp. 01-17.

Abstract
The great powers using either their military and economic muscles or the emblem of the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on the members threatening the international system. On the contrary, globalisation encourages nations to open up and interact instead of isolating each other consequently contradicting the major goal of the sanctions strategy. This presentation attempts to answer three questions; what is the nexus between globalization and sanctions?, how have national interests and state relations affected the sanctions strategy as a foreign policy tool in a globalizing world? and have sanctions met the objectives of the imposer? Using Cuba, Rhodesia, Burma, Iran and Zimbabwe we argue that, the sanctions strategy was used for the furtherance of national interests and this development led to its failure in capturing the objectives of the imposer(s). In addition, it asserts that the targeted few escape the dehumanising effects of sanctions in the name of advancing national goals. Furthermore, they exploit the globalisation strategy to circumvent sanctions at the expanse of the suffering impoverished majority. It is our compliance that the sanctions strategy gravely deteriorated the welfare of the poor, powerless and defenceless majority. Given this dilemma we propose that the imposers of the sanctions be encouraged to employ strategies whose short and long term wider impact do not jeopardise the security and livelihoods of the vulnerable majority as was the case in Burma, Iran and Zimbabwe. We conclude that great players in diplomacy (permanent members of the United Nations Security Council) should be encouraged to acknowledge the fundamental reality that the sanctions scheme though a nonviolent strategy in most cases turns violent as it jeopardizes the welfare of the people it seeks to protect and ameliorate.

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Hove, Mediel., & Chingono, Heather. (2013). National Interests and the Sanctions Strategy 1959-2013. Review of History and Political Science, 1(1), pp. 01-17.

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Mediel Hove Hove is a doctoral student at the Durban University of Technology in the Republic of South Africa and a Lecturer in the War, Peace and Strategic Studies Unit in the History Department at the University of Zimbabwe. Mediel completed his Diploma in Education at Secondary Level- Mutare Teachers College where he majored in History and Religious and Moral Education in 1997, he served in the Ministry of Education Sport, Arts and Culture from 1998 to August 2000. In September 2000 he joined the University of Zimbabwe to study for the Bachelor of Arts General Degree and was elevated to a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree on merit which he completed in 2003. He was appointed Administrator Student Welfare by the Great Zimbabwe University in August 2004 a post he held until August 2006. In September 2006, he enrolled for the Master of Arts in War and Strategic Studies at the University of Zimbabwe and was appointed a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the History Department until February 2008. He rejoined the University of Zimbabwe in May 2009 where is lecturing in the History Department-War, Peace and Strategic Studies Unit. He is also voluntary Advisory Editor and Reviewer at the; Southern Institute of Peace-building and Development and the African Journal of Peace and Security.

In addition, he holds; a Bachelor of Technology Education and Management Degree (Technikon Pretoria- South Africa), Diploma in Personnel Management (IPMZ), Certificate in Leadership (LASOF), Executive Certificate in Community Development and Humanitarian Project Management and Executive Certificate in Practical Monitoring and Evaluation of HIV & AIDS and Non-Profit Projects (University of Zimbabwe). His areas of interest include; Leadership and Conflict Resolution, War, Peace, Security and Strategic Studies, History, Education, Community Development and Research Methods. He has published widely in refereed Journals. One of his latest publications is Mangena, F., and Hove M., “Moral Leadership in a Politically Troubled Nation: The Case for Zimbabwe’s “Decade of Violence” in Chitando E. (ed.) Prayers and Players: Religion and Politics in Zimbabwe, SAPES Books, Harare, 2013.

Heather Chingono is currently a lecturer in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Zimbabwe. She is a holder of a PhD in International Relations from Fudan University (Shanghai, China). Her areas of expertise are International Relations, Governance in Africa, International Law and International Peace and Security Studies. She has written vastly on economic sanctions, China-Africa relations, China-US relations, development politics, foreign policy, challenges emerging from globalization, terrorism and diplomacy.