A New Podcast About How Sanctions are Changing the World

Hosted by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj

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. No matter how much you might know about sanctions, the learning curve is only getting steeper.

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 is a new podcast that invites the people who understand sanctions best—economists, historians, lawyers, policymakers, and journalists—to explain their use and significance. Understanding sanctions, export controls, and other forms of economic coercion is the key to understanding politics and economics today. 

About the Host

My name is Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. I’ve spent ten years researching sanctions and their effects. I’m the founder and CEO of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation, a think tank focused on economic development and economic diplomacy in the Middle East and Central Asia. I’m a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on the Future of Growth for the term of 2023-2024. I was previously a visiting fellow with the Middle East and North Africa programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Before that, I spent a couple years writing a column for Bloomberg Opinion, focused on Middle East politics and economics.

Studying sanctions means working across disciplines. I’ve published peer-reviewed research in several fields, including economics, international relations, social history, and public health.

Most importantly, through my work on sanctions, I have met brilliant policymakers, business leaders, and scholars. The Sanctions Age is an opportunity to bring you into the conversations that have shaped my thinking on sanctions over the years.

I’ll be speaking to some of the best and brightest:

• Saleha Mohsin on how the strong dollar became the weaponized dollar

• Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman on weaponizing interdependence in a globalized world

• Maximilian Hess and Nicholas Mulder on economic war and economic peace

• Daniel McDowell and Maria Shagina on how states evade and undermine sanctions

• Henry Smith on how multinational companies manage sanctions risk

• Stephen Fallon on the limits of European economic sovereignty

• Delaney Simon on the challenges of peacebuilding in the wake of sanctions

How to Tune In

The Sanctions Age will be available to download for free wherever you get your podcasts. Free subscribers will get an email notification when a new episode is available.

But by becoming a paid subscriber here on Substack, you’ll get the following benefits:

• Each new episode delivered straight to your inbox

• A full transcript of the interview

• My analysis and reflections on each episode

• Subscriber-only posts focused on the sanctions issues that are making the headlines

Your support will help us go beyond our initial 10-episode run!

The Sanctions Age is produced by Spiritland Productions and is supported by a grant from the Hollings Center for International Dialogue.

The first episode will be released soon. Subscribe and stay tuned!