Quarterly Publication

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD in International Relations, Allameh Tabataba`i University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor in International Relations, Allameh Tabataba`i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Economic sanctions imposed on heterogeneous states have played an important role as a tool of pressure in recent decades. Considering that most states nonconforming with the US are important players on the energy market, large part of this country’s sanctions policies has focused on the energy sector. With the evolution of the US shale oil industry, using energy as a tool of sanctions against target countries has received increasing attention by the US presidents in recent years. The US is using the geopolitical shift as an international strategy to compete with other powers in the energy sector such as Iran, Venezuela, and Russia. The US aims to use its energy embargo policy to curtail the influence of these players on the energy market and prevent their anti-American policies by fermenting economic crises within these countries. The question arises as to the extent of the effectiveness and sustainability of this US foreign policy strategy in a transitional international order. The article hypothesis is that due to inefficient unconventional resources in terms of market crisis, the rise of counter-hegemonic coalitions, and geopolitical tensions in regions such as the Middle East, one cannot be too optimistic about the sustainability of this situation. The authors of the article will endeavor to explain the above hypothesis within the framework of the hegemony theory and by using the trend-analysis technique while addressing the driving forces.

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