The Sanctions Age

The Sanctions Age
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The Sanctions Age is a podcast that explores how sanctions are changing the world.   Twenty years ago, the U.S. Department of Treasury had imposed sanctions on fewer than 1,000 companies and individuals. Today, more than 10,000 entities have been targeted.   Leaders around the world are imposing sanctions in response to wars, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, human rights violations, and technological competition. As a result, a growing list of countries are targeted by sanctions, export controls, and investment restrictions, including China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and Syria.   The Sanctions Age invites the people who understand sanctions best—economists, historians, lawyers, policymakers, and journalists—to explain their use and significance. Understanding sanctions is the key to understanding politics and economics today.    We are living in The Sanctions Age.

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    Why Oil Sanctions No Longer Work

    Few sanctions have been used as aggressively as oil sanctions. These measures are meant to hit oil producing “rogue states” where it hurts, starving governments of vital revenues and forcing changes in policy. But look around the world today and you will see a growing list of countries defying oil sanctions. Iran is still pumping. Russia is still exporting. Venezuela is still finding buyers. Oil sanctions were once thought to be the most powerful economic weapon in Washington’s arsenal. But Gregory Brew believes that “the age of oil sanctions as a coercive tool is coming to an end.” On this episode, we unpack Greg’s argument, and along the way look at how countries like Iran and Russia are still pumping, shipping, and marketing oil for eager buyers. We discuss the networks that move this sanctioned crude, the central role that China plays in this trade, and we examine about a recent report into a shadowy oil broker called Ocean Glory that shows just how sophisticated sanctions evasion has become. Greg is an analyst with Eurasia Group’s Energy, Climate & Resources team. He also serves as the group’s Iran country analyst. A historian by training, Greg is the author of two books on oil, Iran, and U.S. foreign policy. The Sanctions Age is hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. The show is produced by Spiritland Productions. Sign up to The Sanctions Age newsletter: www.thesanctionsage.com The Sanctions Age is hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. The show is produced by Spiritland Productions. To receive an email when new episodes are released, access episode transcripts, and read Esfandyar's notes on each episode, sign-up for the The Sanctions Age newsletter on Substack: https://www.thesanctionsage.com/

    54 min

  2. 23 SEPT

    Russia’s Commitment to Austerity Under Sanctions

    Russia is one of the world’s largest economies. It’s a top energy exporter and a major supplier of wheat, fertilizers, wood, and metals. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Western governments have tried to squeeze Russia’s revenues through unprecedented sanctions, price caps, and export controls. How Russia’s economy responds to war and sanctions doesn’t just matter for Moscow or Kyiv — it matters for the price of fuel in India, the cost of bread in Egypt, and the margins for factories in China. Understanding what’s really going on in the Russian economy has become essential for anyone trying to design more painful sanctions or predict where global commodity prices are headed next. But what if our model of the Russian economy is fundamentally wrong? Nicholas Trickett is a political economist and writer who has spent years analysing the Russian economy. When he is not working on his forthcoming book, Empire of Austerity, Nick is covering the global mining and metals industry as an Associate Director at S&P Global. The Sanctions Age is hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. The show is produced by Spiritland Productions. To receive an email when new episodes are released, access episode transcripts, and read Esfandyar's notes on each episode, sign-up for the The Sanctions Age newsletter on Substack: https://www.thesanctionsage.com/

    49 min

  3. 15 SEPT

    How Sanctions Hit a Small Mining Town

    The small Guatemalan town of El Estor was once a bustling mining hub, home to two major nickel mines that provided thousands of jobs and sustained the local government. In 2022, U.S. sanctions shuttered those mines almost overnight, triggering massive job losses, starving the town of public revenues, and collapsing small businesses. Families that had worked their way into the middle class were suddenly plunged into poverty, and many residents—facing few options—were forced to emigrate, setting out on the dangerous journey north to the United States. Jeff Stein is the Washington Post’s chief economics correspondent. As part of a remarkable series of investigative stories called “The Money War,” Jeff reported from El Estor, bearing witness to the ways in which sanctions policies set in Washington can change the fortunes of communities thousands of miles away. The Sanctions Age is hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. The show is produced by Spiritland Productions. To receive an email when new episodes are released, access episode transcripts, and read Esfandyar's notes on each episode, sign-up for the The Sanctions Age newsletter on Substack: https://www.thesanctionsage.com/

    51 min

  4. 8 SEPT

    The Shadow of Sanctions in Syria

    On December 8, 2024, Bashar Al-Assad fled Syria, bringing an end to the 13-year civil war that had devastated the country. Syrians who had endured years of conflict and deprivation, took to the streets in celebration. They were suddenly able to imagine a new future for their country. Assad’s fall caught the international community by surprise, and policymakers in the region, in Europe, and in the United States were forced to adjust their policies, opening lines of communication to Syria’s new leader, Ahmad Al-Shaara. Over the last six months, one issue has dominated the debate over Syria policy—lifting the Syria sanctions. Karam Shaar is the founder of Karam Shaar Advisory, a consulting company. He currently serves as the Chief Economic Consultant to the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Syria and a Senior Consultant at the World Bank. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the New Lines Institute. The Sanctions Age is hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. The show is produced by Spiritland Productions. To receive an email when new episodes are released, access episode transcripts, and read Esfandyar's notes on each episode, sign-up for the The Sanctions Age newsletter on Substack: https://www.thesanctionsage.com/

    51 min

  5. 1 SEPT

    How to Get Off the Sanctions List

    There is a powerful office in the Treasury Department called the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC. You could argue that the officials in OFAC are the most powerful government functionaries in the world. They are the functionaries who sanction companies, organizations, and individuals, by adding these entities to a list called the Specially Designated Nationals List, or SDN List for short.  Today, there are over 17,000 designated entities. The list includes Iranian government institutions, Afghan jihadists, Russian state enterprises, Venezuelan officials, and Mexican drug lords—a growing list of entities that the US deems a threat to national security. Getting on the list is easy. Getting off the list is hard. Erich Ferrari is Founder and Principal Attorney of Ferrari & Associates, a Washington DC based law firm. Erich represents U.S. and foreign corporations, financial institutions, exporters, insurers, as well as private individuals in trade compliance, regulatory licensing matters, and federal investigations and prosecutions. The Sanctions Age is hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. The show is produced by Spiritland Productions. To receive an email when new episodes are released, access episode transcripts, and read Esfandyar's notes on each episode, sign-up for the The Sanctions Age newsletter on Substack: https://www.thesanctionsage.com/

    48 min

  6. 26 AUG

    Reporting from Sanctioned Countries

    Covering sanctions is complicated. Editors commissioning reports from countries like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela mainly want stories that focus on security or political issues, but on the ground, economic disruptions are what everyone is talking about. Foreign correspondents based in sanctioned countries are not just reporting on economic disruptions, they are experiencing them first-hand, contending with volatile markets, rising prices, product shortages, and a darkening mood. As economic pressure builds, journalism can become more sensitive. Government officials may not want the true extent of the economic fallout to become known. This episode, recorded before the 12-day war fought between Israel and Iran in July, discusses the experience of foreign correspondents covering sanctions in Iran. Golnar Motevalli is a reporter for Bloomberg. Between 2013 and 2020 she was a correspondent based in Tehran. Today, Golnar leads Bloomberg’s coverage on Iran from London. The Sanctions Age is hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. The show is produced by Spiritland Productions. To receive an email when new episodes are released, access episode transcripts, and read Esfandyar's notes on each episode, sign-up for the The Sanctions Age newsletter on Substack: https://www.thesanctionsage.com/

    55 min

  7. 18 AUG

    How Sanctions are Spurring Chinese Innovation

    Over the past several years, the United States has escalated its use of sanctions and export controls in the context of growing strategic competition with China. A central goal has been to contain China’s rise in high-tech industries—especially semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and clean energy—by cutting off access to advanced technology. This approach reflects a bipartisan consensus in Washington that restricting China’s access to innovation is key to preserving American technological dominance. But there is an emerging debate about whether this approach is working as intended. Recent developments suggest that export controls and sanctions might be spurring faster innovation in China—forcing Chinese firms and the state to deepen their technological capabilities and reorganize industrial supply chains. Kyle Chan is a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University whose work focuses on industrial policy, innovation, and green technology in China. He is the author of an excellent newsletter titled High Capacity. He also recently published an op-ed in the New York Times on US-China technological competition. The Sanctions Age is hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. The show is produced by Spiritland Productions. Sign up to The Sanctions Age newsletter: www.thesanctionsage.com The Sanctions Age is hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. The show is produced by Spiritland Productions. To receive an email when new episodes are released, access episode transcripts, and read Esfandyar's notes on each episode, sign-up for the The Sanctions Age newsletter on Substack: https://www.thesanctionsage.com/

    43 min

  8. 11 AUG

    How Sanctions Kill

    In the 1990s, UN sanctions imposed on Iraq led to a humanitarian crisis, with reports of a rapid increase in excess mortality, especially among children. In the early 2000s, policymakers responded to this crisis by vowing to use “smart sanctions” in the future, measures that would target elites while sparing civilians, thereby limiting the humanitarian harms of economic coercion. The perception that today’s sanctions are “smart” has contributed to the rapid increase in their use over the last two decades. But a new paper, titled “Effects of International Sanctions on Age-Specific Mortality: A Cross-National Panel Data Analysis” and published in the prestigious journal The Lancet Global Health suggests that even today, sanctions continue to have devastating humanitarian impacts. Drawing on data from 152 countries over fifty years, the paper estimates that unilateral sanctions—particularly those imposed by the United States—are associated with over half a million excess deaths each year. The paper’s findings demand a fundamental reassessment of the humanitarian impacts of today’s sanctions regimes. Francisco Rodríguez is the Rice Family Professor of the Practice at the Josef Korbel School at the University of Denver. Francisco is one of the co-authors of the paper, along with Silvio Rendón, and Mark Weisbrot. The Sanctions Age is hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. The show is produced by Spiritland Productions. To receive an email when new episodes are released, access episode transcripts, and read Esfandyar's notes on each episode, sign-up for the The Sanctions Age newsletter on Substack: https://www.thesanctionsage.com/

    51 min
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About

The Sanctions Age is a podcast that explores how sanctions are changing the world.   Twenty years ago, the U.S. Department of Treasury had imposed sanctions on fewer than 1,000 companies and individuals. Today, more than 10,000 entities have been targeted.   Leaders around the world are imposing sanctions in response to wars, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, human rights violations, and technological competition. As a result, a growing list of countries are targeted by sanctions, export controls, and investment restrictions, including China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and Syria.   The Sanctions Age invites the people who understand sanctions best—economists, historians, lawyers, policymakers, and journalists—to explain their use and significance. Understanding sanctions is the key to understanding politics and economics today.    We are living in The Sanctions Age.

Information

  • Creator
    The Sanctions Age
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 The Sanctions Age
  • Show Website
    The Sanctions Age

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