Charmaine N. Willis – The Conversation

The Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz has largely brought oil traffic to a halt, hitting petroleum-exporting countries hard. Asghar Besharati / Getty Images

April 30, 2026

The US has long used economic coercion to achieve foreign policy goals — the war in Iran shows how that power has declined

Charmaine N. Willis, Old Dominion University and Keith A. Preble, East Carolina University

US sanctions on foreign nations have lost some of their power to influence the behavior of other nations – with increasing costs for the US to boot.

Visitors pose next to the stand of Russian fertilizer producer Uralchem at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 18, 2025. Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images

July 29, 2025

Sanctioning ghosts: Why US plans to hit Russia with fresh economic penalties will have little effect

Keith A. Preble, East Carolina University and Charmaine N. Willis, Old Dominion University

Trade between Russia and US has fallen 90% since 2021 – blunting the impact of any proposed tariffs or sanctions.

Not all smooth sailing for the Russian economy, but far from choppy waters. Alexei Danichev/AFP via Getty Images

February 29, 2024

How Russia has managed to shake off the impact of sanctions – with a little help from its friends

Keith A. Preble, Miami University and Charmaine N. Willis, Skidmore College

The US has imposed another round of sanctions following the death of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny. But will it work?

Sanctions have failed to prevent Myanmar’s military from obtaining hardware. STR/AFP via Getty Images

February 1, 2024

3 years on from coup, economic sanctions look unlikely to push Myanmar back to democracy

Charmaine N. Willis, Skidmore College and Keith A. Preble, Miami University

Economic proscriptions by the US and EU are hampered by lack of support among Myanmar’s major trading partners in the region.

Corporal punishment in schools around the world is disappearing, but a handful of countries have held on to the practice. Cat Act Art/Shutterstock.com

July 31, 2019

School spankings are banned just about everywhere around the world except in US

Lucy Sorensen, University at Albany, State University of New York; Charmaine N. Willis, University at Albany, State University of New York; Melissa L Breger, Albany Law School, and Victor Asal, University at Albany, State University of New York

While more and more countries have moved to ban corporal punishment in schools, certain types of nations have been slower than others to outlaw the practice. A recent analysis seeks to explain why.

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