cover of episode Economic Warfare: A History

Economic Warfare: A History

2023/3/3
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Today we’re releasing part one of our a two-part conversation with Nick Mulder, a history professor at Cornell and author of The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War — a Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2022.

With cohost Lars, Schönander, we discuss:

  • The recent advent of the use of sanctions (for example, in the Crimean War, Britain continued to fulfill payments to Russia, the nation it was fighting right then!)

  • Why Europeans were reluctant to employ blockades and sanctions in the early twentieth century, and how their thinking evolved through two world wars

  • How Wilson’s notion of “moral sanctions” and decision to keep blockades in place after the war were important to the development of sanctions, especially during the interwar period

  • The League of Nations’ efforts to establish a “positive sanctions” fund, and why the concept never took off

  • Nick’s take on why Hoover is underrated

  • When and why Italy almost fought a war against Germany over Austria

Stay tuned for part two, when we connect this sanctions history to implications to US-China relations today!

Nick’s excellent book: https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Weapon-Rise-Sanctions-Modern/dp/0300259360)

Outro music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzd4VtkNjmc)

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