- Economic tools, such as sanctions, tariffs and access to critical resources, are becoming an increasingly important part of the UK’s policy toolkit;

- Evidence has shown that disrupting a hostile state or actor’s ability to achieve its aims, for example through export or import controls, asset freezes and bans on financial transactions, should be the primary goal of sanctions. Deterrence and signalling our readiness to defend international norms should play an important, but secondary role;

- This is because sanctions which constrain the target are also more likely to deter and signal;

- But in order to make these sanctions effective, the improvement of government strategies and ways of working in order needs to be a priority;

- A new paper from the Adam Smith Institute recommends that the government publishes a new sanctions strategy, establishes a sub-committee of the National Security Council dedicated to Sanctions and Economic Statecraft, and sets up a joint unit for sanctions and counter-threat finance.

In 2024, the previous UK Government stated in its sanctions strategy that the purpose of sanctions is to “DETER future or continued malign activity; to DISRUPT current malign activity; and to DEMONSTRATE our readiness to defend international norms.” Evidence shows that the second of these aims - disrupting a hostile state or actor’s ability to carry out its aggressive acts by using tools such as export or import controls, asset freezes and bans on financial transactions, should be the primary goal. Deterrence and signalling should play an important, but secondary role.

It is also vital to prevent sanctions evasion where possible, as a previous Adam Smith Institute paper has highlighted. This means that those who are designing sanctions need to have sufficient knowledge of the target’s economy, supply chains and alternative ways of financing its activity.

But in order for these sanctions to be effective, processes and strategies within government need to be improved as a matter of priority. That’s why a new paper from the ASI, authored by James Gillespie, is recommending the following:

1) Publish a Revised Sanctions Strategy: This should include an explicit statement that the government will pursue constraint-based sanctions as the most effective way of achieving the aims of a sanctions regime, alongside clear links to other government policy areas, such as the Fusion Doctrine, the Integrated Review and Refresh, and anti-corruption priorities.

2) Establish a Subcommittee of the National Security Council Dedicated to Sanctions and Economic Statecraft: This subcommittee would be chaired by the Foreign Secretary, and would be attended by other relevant cabinet ministers.

3) Establish a Joint Unit for Sanctions and Counter-Threat Finance Integrating Intelligence and Enforcement: This would be responsible for identifying how the target state or actor acquires the funds to carry out an objectionable policy, how to disrupt their supply chains, and how to prevent sanctions evasion. It should also monitor the effect of sanctions, providing an evidence base for future sanctions policy.

Maxwell Marlow, Director of Research at the Adam Smith Institute, said:

“As the world becomes increasingly unstable, Britain’s sanction policy must be agile enough to respond to threats to British interests.

But our current machinery of government is hindering this. Sanctions will not be effective unless all relevant departments are working together and have access to the very best expertise.

Our research paper outlines which levers should be pulled, so as to use Britain’s significant global financial power to bear on those who wish to threaten liberal democracy.”

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact press@adamsmith.org | 0758 477 8207.

James Gillespie is an Associate Fellow in the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at RUSI, where his main research interests concern ransomware, illicit finance, and the use of sanctions in a cybersecurity context. James was previously a Policy Advisor at HM Treasury.

The Adam Smith Institute is one of the world’s leading think tanks. It is ranked first in the world among independent think tanks and as the best domestic and international economic policy think tank in the UK by the University of Pennsylvania. Independent, non-profit and non-partisan, the Institute is at the forefront of making the case for free markets and a free society, through education, research, publishing, and media outreach.

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