Comments on: Penn Law’s Journal of International Law Holds Symposium on Economic Sanctions.

By: Mike Deal

Mike Deal — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:06:56 +0000

Did the good professor draw a distinction betwee unilateral and multilateral sanctions? The present UN sanctions against Iran hardly affect the average citizen, whereas the UN embargo of Iraq, even with the corruption, had a nasty effect on the average citizen and actually made Saddam stroner in the domestic context. The US embargo of all trade, including EAR99 items, does no more to Iran – and maybe even less – than the suspension of dual use licenses that preceded it. By declaring a zone free from competition by U.S. companies, the U.S. has given China a free hand to pull Iran into its sphere, and vice versa.

By: Clif Burns

Clif Burns — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:56:21 +0000

Mike, my apologies for not announcing it ahead of time. I’d been meaning to do so but in the last minute rush to get ready I forgot to post an announcement. I also didn’t focus on the cheap CLE aspect because we DC Bar members don’t have a CLE requirement.

In all events, my presentation was only 10 minutes and was not nearly as, um, interesting as watching jaws drop throughout the room when Professor Kitrie dismissed any consideration of the civilian impact of country-based sanctions on the grounds that a few starving North Korean (or Iranian) civilians was a small price to pay to keep their government from blowing up NYC.

By: Mike Deal

Mike Deal — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:06:52 +0000

Clif: I’m disappointed you didn’t announce the symposium ahead of time. CLEs that cheap are hard to come by, especially in export controls. Plus, the pleasure of hearing you live, of course.

By: Scott K.

Scott K. — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:06:50 +0000

Feel free! Eventually George Lucas will catch up with me, though.

By: Clif Burns

Clif Burns — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:52:13 +0000

Scott, feel free to share the presentation. And the Anarctica line is great. With your permission, I’ll quote you on that when the next opportunity arises!

By: Scott K.

Scott K. — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:26:30 +0000

Thanks for the link to your presentation, with your permission, I’d like to share it with our trade sanctions staff.

Also, I love the title, and I can assure you that it will take on a life of its own. I once did a presentation on assessing country risk that contained a slide titled ‘Antarctica is a wretched hive of scum and villainy.’ I’ve seen that slide tacked up in compliance offices of banks that never heard the original presentation.