Episode 3: Daniel McDowell and Maria Shagina

How States Evade and Undermine Sanctions

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The stakes around sanctions circumvention have never been higher. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has made sanctions evasion a matter of life or death. Russia continues to use export revenues to fund its war economy, and, despite trade restrictions, Russian factories continue to churn out weapons using imported parts and machinery. Meanwhile, growing antagonism between China and the United States has spurred Chinese officials to worry about their vulnerability to US financial sanctions and therefore question the dollar’s dominant role in the global economy. China has begun developing an alternative financial infrastructure, which could one day undermine the dollar’s unique role in international trade.

With the stakes higher than ever before, sanctions circumvention is garnering greater attention from policymakers, researchers, and journalists. But a handful of experts have studied these issues for over a decade. They have unique insights to share.

Daniel McDowell is an associate professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He is also the author of Bucking the Buck: U.S. Financial Sanctions and the International Backlash Against the Dollar, which was published last year.

Maria Shagina is the Diamond-Brown Senior Research Fellow for Economic Sanctions, Standards and Strategy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

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

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The rest of this email is for paid subscribers and includes Esfandyar’s reflections on his conversation with Daniel and Maria and a full episode transcript. If you would like access to this additional content and want to support the show, please subscribe by clicking the button below.

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