Adapted from a shorter article published in February 2026 in The Sanctions Age, authors Alistair Millar and Nathanael Tilahun argue that the evolution of sanctions into instruments of systemic economic isolation and punishment demands a normative consolidation that arrests and reverses this trend.
“The Next Frontier: Overcoming Crime and Corruption in Post-Sanctions States,” by Susan Carter, George A. Lopez, and Alistair Millar, Just Security, (15 May 2026).
Podcast — 14 April 2026
The Sanctions Age: The Decades-Long Effort to Make Sanctions ‘Smart’. Esfandyar Batmanhelidj’s conversation with Alistair Millar.
Listen (42:02)
“Moving Beyond the Security Council’s Impasse to Support Afghanistan,” by Aref Dostyar, CJ Pine, and George A. Lopez, IPI Global Observatory, (25 March 2026).
Journal Article — 19 September 2025
“How to Toughen Russia Sanctions,” by David Cortright, The National Interest, (19 September 2025).
“Turning Trump’s Peace Overtures into Sustainable Deals,” by Peter J. Quaranto and George A. Lopez, Just Security, (19 September 2025).
“A Framework for Proactively — and Rapidly — Lifting Sanctions on Syria,” by Alistair Millar and Stephen J. Fallon, Just Security, (5 June 2025).
“To Support Peace Efforts, the West Needs a Coordinated Way to Effectively Reduce Sanctions,” by Stephen J. Fallon and George A. Lopez, Just Security, (27 February 2025).
This study by the Fourth Freedom Forum’s 2024 Howard S. Brembeck Fellow, Amina Ahmed, emphasizes the critical role the Afghan diaspora plays in lobbying their host nations for meaningful support for Afghans in Afghanistan, refugees, and those trapped in limbo without legal status in countries like Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. In essence, this brief serves as a call to action for the diaspora to organize and advocate effectively for their fellow Afghans.
Report — December 2023
This report is a project of the New Paradigm Project, which is made possible with support from the Fourth Freedom Forum, the Colombe Foundation, the Jubitz Foundation, the Chino Cienega Foundation, Cynda Collins Arsenault, Rockefeller Family Associates, and the Samuel Rubin Foundation. The New Paradigm project assesses the costs and consequences of overly militarized U.S. policies that led to failure in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries, and diverted trillions of dollars from needed investment at home. The project examines the advantages of cooperative multilateral approaches to international security based on principles of human rights and military restraint. The project produces analyses and policy proposals for greater reliance on diplomacy, peacebuilding, development, economic statecraft, and participatory governance as means of preventing armed conflict and violent extremism.
