U.S. Sanctions Policy Focus of Presentation

U.S. Sanctions Policy Focus of Presentation
RICE NEWS OFFICE
March 12, 1998

The United States’ sanctions policy will be the subject of a key public presentation
by the Clinton administration’s senior official responsible for this issue on
Thursday, April 2, at Rice University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public
Policy. Stuart Eizenstat, undersecretary of state for economic, business and
agricultural affairs, will discuss overall U.S. policy on sanctions as well
as the progress of a State Department team recently formed to evaluate current
U.S. sanctions policies.

The program will begin at 1 p.m. at Baker Hall and is open to the campus community.
Eizenstat’s presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer period.

When the sanctions policy review team was formed in January of this year, Eizenstat
told reporters the new effort was designed to "find a way to improve the
way we make sanctions decisions, to ensure that sanctions are part of a coherent
strategy."

During the past two months, the review team has begun an internal process of
evaluating the purpose, cost and effectiveness of existing sanctions.

"As evidenced by the latest crisis with Iraq, sanctions policy is one
of the major issues on the domestic and foreign policy agenda," said Baker
Institute Director Edward Djerejian. "By some accounts, the United States
maintains a trade embargo, export or import restrictions, or other forms of
economic sanctions on more than 70 countries. Sanctions are imposed in the pursuit
of U.S. interests and foreign policy objectives, including the prevention of
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, narcotics trade, terrorism,
and human rights violations.

"However, there is a real need to assess the efficacy and long-term impact
of sanctions on U.S. policy objectives and interests," Djerejian added.
"The imposition of sanctions on three key oil-producing states&emdash;Iraq,
Iran and Libya&emdash;is of particular relevance to the energy industry.
We are indeed fortunate to have Stu Eizenstat authoritatively address these
issues at this particular juncture."

Last year, the Baker Institute released a public policy study on "The
Persian Gulf and Energy Supply and Security," which called for a reassessment
of sanctions policy.

The study also pointed out the contrast in effectiveness of unilateral versus
multilateral sanctions.

Following Eizenstat’s presentation, a distinguished panel of foreign policy
experts and university researchers will meet to discuss the strategic role of
Iran in the Persian Gulf and Central Asia.

Congressman Lee Hamilton, the ranking minority member on the U.S. House of
Representatives’ International Relations Committee, and Bruce Reidel, special
assistant and National Security Council adviser to the president for Near East
and South Asia, will participate in a panel discussion on this subject.

The panel discussion is by invitation only.

For related information visit the following Web sites:
U.S. Secretary of State: http://www.state.gov
James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy: http://riceinfo.rice.edu/projects/baker/index.html