UN Sanctions Regimes
How the UN Security Council imposes sanctions, why they carry unique legitimacy, and why they are increasingly hard to pass.
The Authority of UN Sanctions
UN Security Council sanctions carry a legal authority that no unilateral or regional sanctions can match. Under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, Security Council resolutions are binding on all 193 UN member states. When the Council imposes sanctions, every country in the world is legally obligated to implement them. This gives UN sanctions universal reach -- unlike US or EU sanctions, which bind only those within their jurisdiction.
The Council has maintained sanctions regimes against a rotating cast of targets: North Korea (nuclear weapons), Somalia (arms embargo), Libya (post-conflict), Yemen (conflict parties), and various terrorist organizations. At any given time, roughly a dozen sanctions regimes are active, each monitored by a dedicated panel of experts that investigates compliance and documents evasion.