Jun.-Prof. Dr. Hana Attia

States increasingly use economic coercion - from sanctions to politically driven tariffs - to shape foreign policy. Once the go-to response to security crises, sanctions now share the stage with trade tools, raising questions about how coercion is evolving in global politics today worldwide.

This article finds that presidents with stronger party power in Congress and higher public approval are more likely to end sanctions, particularly by capitulation. Sanctions with congressional oversight mechanisms last longer and are less likely to be lifted by presidents before achieving their goals.

A collection of animated and interactive visualizations of the International Sanctions Termination Dataset.

A dominant argument in the literature is that leaders tend to initiate military disputes in periods plagued by economic distress. This article revisits the diversionary theory and adapts it to the use of economic sanctions in the United States, contending that their use follows a similar diversionary logic.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will be inaugurated this Tuesday. Damming the Blue Nile, which flows from Ethiopia into Sudan and Egypt, creates the largest hydropower plant in Africa, and the eighth largest in the world. But the GERD has also caused mounting tensions with its downstream neighbors, Egypt and Sudan. The World’s Host Marco Werman spoke with political scientist Hana Attia about the unresolved issues surrounding the GERD.

When and how are sanctions lifted? In this video, Prof. Dr. Hana Attia, Research Fellow at GIGA, explains the factors that determine when sanctions are lifted.

POMEPS Workshop, Aarhus University, Aarhus Organisation: Project on Middle East Political Science Jun.-Prof. Dr. Hana Attia (Vortragende:r)

MESA Annual Meeting 2025, Westin Washington, Washington DC, Downtown Organisation: Middle East Studies Association Jun.-Prof. Dr. Hana Attia (Vortragende:r), Dr. Mona Saleh (Vortragende:r)

Leuphana Universität Lüneburg Lüneburg Deutschland

Leuphana Universität Lüneburg Lüneburg Deutschland