Natural Resources and Violent Conflict - WaterWiki.net

230 philippe le billon• Certification instruments• Aid conditionality and economic supervision• Corporate conduct instruments• Advocacy nongovernmental organizations and the media• Other transboundary resource and environmental governanceinstruments.Trade SanctionsInternational trade sanctions represent one of the most powerfulinstruments of enforcement bearing on transborder trade in conflictresources. Although trade sanctions can directly affect the flow ofresources and therefore stop resources from financing war, they havebeen used largely as a coercive measure and as a means of gaining economicleverage over exporting countries to serve the interests or objectivesof sanction-imposing countries. The United States, in particular,has repeatedly used this instrument in foreign policy. Exporting countrieshave also used trade sanctions to send a political message and toachieve economic leverage over importing countries, most noticeablyin the case of the 1973 oil ban imposed by the oil-producing Arabnations on trade with the United States. This section deals with internationaltrade sanctions established under international law throughthe UN Security Council as well as under regional arrangements, but itdoes not specifically examine unilateral trade sanctions.UN Commodity Sanctions. Under Article 41, Chapter VII, of theUN Charter, the Security Council may impose restrictions on economicrelations by UN members with targeted countries or groups “to maintainor restore international peace and security.” Once this decisionhas been taken according to the voting rules of the Security Council,UN member states are obliged to accept and carry it out in accordancewith the UN Charter (Article 25, Chapter V).The implementation of sanctions is followed and assisted by SecurityCouncil–mandated sanctions committees, which solicit and review reportson measures that states take to implement sanctions, seek furtherinformation from states on implementation measures and violations,report periodically to the council on persons or entities reported in violationof sanctions, and recommend appropriate measures and promulgateguidelines to both the Security Council and states to facilitate theimplementation of sanctions. Sanctions committees also deal with mattersrelating to the target list, administer the exceptions process, and assistthe council in finding solutions for nontargeted states economicallyaffected by sanctions (Article 50; Biersteker and others 2001). Thebreadth and effectiveness of the work of the sanctions committees have