Backfire
Backfire is a balanced, fast-paced, and often surprising account on the global ripple effects of sanctions and export controls. The book explores the surprising ways sanctions affect multinational companies, governments, and ultimately millions of people around the world. Drawing on interviews with experts, policy makers, and people in sanctioned countries, Agathe Demarais examines the unintended consequences of the use of sanctions as a diplomatic weapon. Backfire reveals how sanctions are transforming geopolitics and the global economy―full of counterintuitive insights spanning a wide range of topics, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to Iran’s COVID response, China’s cryptocurrency ambitions, as well as diminishing U.S. influence. Backfire is an insider’s account that sheds light on the future of sanctions in an increasingly multipolar world.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Backfire highlights the global ripple effects of sanctions on multinationals, commodity markets, and diplomatic relations.
The book also analyses the impact of recent US export controls on the exports of American semiconductor technology to China, and what these mean for the future of sanctions.
The book draws on her experience as an economic policy advisor for the diplomatic corps of the French Treasury in Russia and Lebanon.
She draws upon her extensive expertise in emerging markets, deep policy-making knowledge and her experience in investment banking to help a wide variety of audiences make sense of complex developments.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Agathe Demarais is a leading voice on global issues and a thought leader on global affairs.
She is a Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, where her research includes the geoconomics and sanctions.
She was the Global Forecasting Director for the Economist Intelligence Unit, where she led the firm's global economic and geopolitical analysis.
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
"Sanctions are in fashion...But do they work? And what are their side effects and long-term impact? These are critical questions, and Agathe Demarais's excellent, clear-headed book has uncomfortable answers"
―Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor, The Economist
"Backfire is a balanced, fast-paced, and often surprising account of the growing influence that sanctions have had on businesses, economies, and people around the world over recent decades..."
―Paul Hannon, The Wall Street Journal
"With the knowledge of an expert and the tight prose of a journalist, Agathe Demarais has written a fast-paced, well-articulated review of the difficulties, risks, and unintended consequences of using sanctions."
―Richard Nephew, author of The Art of Sanctions: A View from the Field
"Demarais takes the normal critique further, arguing that sanctions... encourage behavior that runs counter to U.S. interests."
―Washington Post
"Demarais, a global policy expert, provides a contemporary analysis of U.S. sanctions’ place, function, and effects in the world."
―The New Republic
"From unintended humanitarian consequences to sanctions derailing global commodities markets, Demarais provides detailed sanctions of well-intended policies having unintended consequences."
―National Interest