International opinion is increasingly turning against the expanding burden of sanctions imposed on a growing number of countries. These measures are contributing to humanitarian crises, intensifying domestic discord, and heightening international tensions, thereby increasing the risks of conflicts and wars.
On April 3, 2023, a resolution condemning the growing use of sanctions was approved in the United Nations Human Rights Council by 33 votes to 13. While countries opposing the resolution included the United States and its European allies, those supporting it—among them India, China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh—represented a much larger segment of the world.
In recent decades, resentment has grown over the misuse of sanctions, as their severe impacts on ordinary people, including children, have been widely reported in countries such as Iraq. Despite this, sanctions have increased rapidly, with the United States playing a leading role, followed by its close allies and several NATO members.
According to a review of sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), conducted by the US Department of the Treasury, the number of sanctions rose from 912 in 2000 to 9,421 in 2021—well before the additional sanctions imposed in 2022, particularly against Russia. The review noted: “OFAC sanctions tell us only part of the story, as the US continues to rely on export controls, foreign direct investment reviews, import restrictions, and limitations on the use of information and communications technology and services to achieve foreign policy goals.”
In his book "The Economic Weapon—The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War", Nicholas Mulder argues that while sanctions began as a peace-making tool after World War I, they have increasingly taken on the character of warfare. In an interview, he stated: “Both in their underlying goals (regime change and breaking the will to resist) and in their effects on civilian society—immiseration, starvation, disease, bankruptcy—these approaches to sanctions can produce measures whose functions and consequences are identical to war.”
The same book cites a UN official noting in 2015 that nearly one-third of the world’s population lives in countries subject to some form of economic sanctions.
Against this backdrop, the April 2023 resolution—submitted by Azerbaijan on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement and adopted by a strong majority—assumes considerable significance. It condemned the unilateral imposition of sanctions as tools of political and economic pressure, particularly against developing countries, and urged their removal as inconsistent with the UN Charter and principles governing peaceful relations among states. Importantly, it also called on all states to refrain from accepting or implementing such unilateral coercive measures.
This resolution should not be seen in isolation but as part of a broader pattern of international concern over the growing misuse of sanctions, which continue to create widespread hardship.
There is perhaps no clearer illustration of the devastating human cost of sanctions than Iraq. Following the 1991 Gulf War, wide-ranging sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council—strongly backed by the US and UK—placed immense and unjust burdens on ordinary Iraqis. These measures compounded the suffering caused by war, particularly the destruction of civilian infrastructure, at a time when recovery and healing were urgently needed.
Two of the most senior UN humanitarian officials in Iraq, Denis J. Halliday and Hans von Sponeck, resigned in protest against these sanctions. Halliday, who served as UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, stated after his resignation: “I was driven to resignation because I refused to continue to take orders of the same Security Council that had imposed and sustained genocidal sanctions on the innocent of Iraq… my innate sense of justice was, and still is, outraged by the violence these sanctions had brought upon the lives of children and families.”
Von Sponeck, who succeeded Halliday, echoed these concerns. Together, they co-authored "The Hostage Nation", published in "The Guardian" on November 29, 2001, arguing that sanctions had devastated Iraqi society and caused widespread death. They wrote: “The uncomfortable truth is that the West is holding the Iraqi people hostage in order to secure Saddam Hussein’s compliance to ever-shifting demands.”
They further noted that the blocking of $4 billion worth of humanitarian supplies by the US and UK severely constrained relief efforts under the Oil-for-Food Programme. According to UN reports cited by them, the deaths of 5,000 to 6,000 children per month were largely due to contaminated water, lack of medicines, and malnutrition.
Quoting Martin Luther King Jr., they concluded: “A time comes when silence is betrayal. That time is now.”
The evidence presented by these senior officials makes it clear that sanctions inflicted immense suffering and caused avoidable deaths on a massive scale. There is therefore a strong case for revisiting these policies and for the United Nations to consider mechanisms for compensating affected populations.
A similar humanitarian concern arises in Syria. Even before the devastating earthquake of early 2023, sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies had significantly worsened the humanitarian crisis. In the aftermath of the disaster, these measures further hindered relief efforts.
In 2022, UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan reported that sanctions on Syria were restricting access to food, medicines, and essential infrastructure components in a country where nearly 90% of the population lives in poverty. She warned that such conditions amounted to “suffocation” and could constitute a crime against humanity.
Estimates suggest that the death toll from sanctions in Iraq may have exceeded that caused directly by warfare. More broadly, the destructive potential of sanctions—especially in disaster-affected regions—demands urgent recognition. The United Nations should adopt a clear policy ensuring that sanctions are suspended in the wake of natural calamities to allow unhindered humanitarian assistance.
A major study titled "Effects of International Sanctions on Age-Specific Mortality: A Cross-National Panel Data Analysis", authored by Francisco Rodríguez, Silvio Rendón, and Mark Weisbrot and published in "The Lancet Global Health" (2025), estimates that unilateral sanctions caused an average of 564,258 deaths annually between 2012 and 2021. The most affected groups were children under five and the elderly, with nearly half the deaths likely involving young children.
The study observes that US sanctions often aim to induce regime change by worsening living conditions in targeted countries, with policymakers sometimes acknowledging this deterioration as part of the intended mechanism. It also highlights how the dominance of the US dollar and euro in global finance amplifies the reach and impact of such sanctions.
As Woodrow Wilson once remarked, sanctions can be “more tremendous than war.” The study reinforces this view, noting the difficulty of identifying other policy tools with such severe and widespread human costs that continue to be used so extensively.
Meanwhile, research from the Costs of War project at Brown University estimates that direct deaths from the post-9/11 “War on Terror” reached around 920,000, while indirect deaths—caused by disease, displacement, and infrastructure collapse—may total between 3.6 and 3.7 million. In her paper "How Death Outlives War—The Reverberating Impact of the Post-9/11 Wars on Human Health", Stephanie Savell highlights how the long-term impacts of war often exceed immediate casualties.
These findings underscore a broader reality: both wars and sanctions inflict prolonged and often invisible suffering, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable.
Serious ethical questions must therefore be raised about the use of sanctions as instruments of foreign policy, particularly when they result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people each year. Moreover, their widespread use has not reduced reliance on warfare, which continues to devastate societies.
There is a compelling case for compensatory justice for victims of both war and sanctions, as well as for comprehensive assessments of their combined human toll. Countries such as Iraq have endured both invasion and prolonged sanctions, leading to catastrophic losses that continue to affect generations.
At the start of 2026, nearly 239 million people worldwide were facing severe humanitarian crises—many as a result of wars, invasions, and sanctions. Addressing their suffering must be a global priority. Instead, the current trajectory points toward escalating conflicts and expanding sanctions regimes.
A decisive shift toward peace is urgently needed, and rolling back most sanctions must be a central part of that effort.
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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include "Planet in Peril", "Protecting Earth for Children", "Earth without Borders", "Man over Machine", and "A Day in 2071"
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