Political scientists and economists argue that the embargo is one of the methods of warfare, an opportunity to test the strength of the world's superpowers, to squeeze competitors on both the economic and political fields.
Increasingly, the word “embargo” will occur in news feeds on TV, in print and online publications. But few readers or viewers know what it is, what danger it carries, and how it affects their lives. In fact, the embargo is of great importance not only for countries, but also for industrial and agricultural enterprises and the people working for them, clerks from offices and state employees from central regions and peripherals. The success of the regions and the country as a whole, the fall and growth of the exchange rate, and political relations between the leading world states depend on the embargo.
What is an embargo - concept and classification
An embargo is a word of Spanish origin that literally translates as a ban, arrest, obstruction or obstruction. In modern times, the concept is most often associated with sanctions, which are so popular now in the political arena. With the help of the embargo, military, economic, and political differences are also resolved, although initially this method of relations between states was used only in trade.
The embargo has ceased to be a methodology for improving the economic condition of the country, and has been used as a way to put pressure on political regimes and states. The game has ceased to be fair, the very understanding of the embargo and its principles have changed. According to the principle of action and goals, the embargo is divided into three main types:
- temporary sanctions aimed at stabilizing the situation in the field of ecology, public health, and preventing radical climate change,
- economic embargo - a ban on the import or export of products of any type, the exchange of developments in the field of innovative and industrial technologies,
- political bans imposed by the UN Security Council or the leadership of one country against another state.
The embargo does not always bring success to its initializer. Often the degree of risk is not calculated for the state that proposes to impose certain sanctions. There are many examples in world history of how the state that initiated it suffered from the embargo.
Embargo in the economy
In economic terms, the embargo is trade and food. Sanctions of this type are introduced against one country or group of states. Trade restrictions are the prohibition of the import of goods manufactured in the country into other countries, or from other states to the state to which the embargo is declared. That is, the government will be forced to look for ways to fill its own markets with goods that are banned. The trade embargo could negatively affect the economy of the country against which sanctions have been imposed, and the global economy as a whole. The crisis is due to the fact that manufacturers simply lose market share.
The food embargo applies only to the sale and purchase of food. It can result in even more serious consequences for both sides. Such sanctions, as a rule, are used to undermine the authority of the ruling authority, and are treated as political ones. Moreover, the embargo initiators often lose, as the state, deprived of the opportunity to replenish its food market from the outside, is forced to develop the agricultural and food industries on its territory.
Both the food and trade embargoes negatively affect the global economy as a whole. Numerous historical examples have already proved the ineffectiveness of such measures, but, despite this, the sanction effect on objectionable states is actively practiced in economics and politics.
Embargo in politics
The political embargo is a concept rather new in interstate relations, but already quite developed. It represents a peaceful blockade of the state. The ban is placed not only on trade relations with a country that has fallen into the embargo zone, but also political, social ones, for example:
- restriction of diplomatic powers,
- partial or complete prohibition of transport interaction,
- termination or restriction of cultural, sports communication,
- complete or partial termination of the exchange of scientific and technological achievements,
- deprivation of the right to vote at international meetings.
The political embargo often causes an exacerbation of international relations between states, which leads to war. It is much more dangerous than trade and food sanctions.
Such sanctions cannot be adopted unilaterally, and should be considered at the UN Security Council, an organization that is called upon to monitor both the economic and political situation. If the state and its government sees an urgent need to apply a political embargo against another country, it should present its decision to the public in the person of the UN, and give weighty arguments in its favor. And only after consideration and approval of the decision can political measures be taken.
Peace and war embargo - differences and features
In peacetime, an embargo can be a measure to ensure the independence, security and economic development of an individual state. By introducing a ban on the import of certain products, it is possible to stimulate the development of our own industry and agriculture. In addition, food and commodity sanctions, the prohibition of transport communications can protect against the penetration and development of epidemiological diseases into the territory of the state. Environmental embargoes also include peaceful prohibitions as a form of protest against animal cruelty or neglect of one of the states' natural resources.
The purpose of the wartime embargo is, as a rule, the only one - to ensure the safety of citizens of the state and to prevent the country from being drawn into hostilities. Under the ban is the import and export of weapons, goods of strategic importance, the restriction on attending world-class scientific and medical meetings, which discusses innovative discoveries. Most often, the prohibition is not the acquisition of new knowledge, but the leak of information about certain discoveries made by citizens of the state. A striking example of a military embargo is the period of the Second World War, when any developments were kept in strict secrecy and protected from disclosure. Breaking the wartime embargo amounts to high treason. Actively used during the war and the food embargo - in order to weaken the leader of action, a potential winner.
