“Trading with Pariahs: The Failure of Economic Statecraft in a Weaponized Interdependent World”

PIs: Keith A. Preble, Independent Scholar; Charmaine N. Willis, PhD Candidate, SUNY Albany

Grant Amount: $2,500

Project Abstract: The United Nations 1718 Sanctions Committee has published biannual reports on the compliance of UN sanctions against North Korea (DPRK). These detailed reports underscore the difficulty faced by the UN member states in promoting and supporting compliance of economic sanctions. Our project will code and catalog North Korea’s sanctions evasion efforts detailed in these reports (and news media). We hope to ultimately create a data set of North Korea’s sanctions evasion and illicit activity, ranging from arms deals to countries in Africa to operating restaurants and art studios in Southeast Asia, which we will make available publicly at the conclusion of our project. These activities are important for understanding how North Korea continues to develop weapons of mass destruction despite major economic sanctions levied against it. The goal of our work is to map out North Korea’s network of illicit activities and compare how it compares to North Korea’s network of licit trade and foreign aid. 

Keith A. Preble
Charmaine N. Willis

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