Introduction : the sanctions debate : the mainstream sanctions debate -- Shifting the debate : towards "mechanisms" -- Outline of the book. 1. A political theory of sanctions : liberal theories of sanctions -- Public choice theories of sanctions -- Institutionalist "regime type" approaches -- The neo-Weberian theory of sanctions -- A social conflict analysis of sanctions -- SCA'S basic foundations : Gramscian state theory -- Social conflict analysis of sanctions -- Methodology. 2. South Africa : sanctioning apartheid : South Africa's coalitional struggles -- Classical apartheid : from colonial origins to the 1960s -- "Reform apartheid" : from the 1970s to the 1980s -- The impact of early sanctions : oil and arms -- The oil embargo -- The arms embargo -- The long-term consequences -- Later sanctions : disinvestment, finance, and trade -- Disinvestment -- Finance and trade -- Impact on social conflict -- Conclusion. 3. Myanmar : sanctioning military rule : Myanmar's coalitional struggles -- Social conflict in Myanmar from independence to 1990 -- The military regime's coalitional and transition strategy -- The opposition coalition and transition strategy -- The material and distributional consequences of sanctions -- Trade : reorientation towards Asia -- Garments -- Timber -- Jade and gemstones -- Investment : concentrating development in Asian-oriented primary sectors -- Disinvestment -- Tourism -- The dollar ban -- Overseas aid and assistance -- Targeted sanctions : visa bans and asset freezes -- Arms embargoes -- Summary -- Sanctions' impact on coalitional struggles -- The ruling SLORC/SPDC Coalition -- The Opposition Coalition -- Conclusion. 4. Iraq : sanctioning dictatorship : Iraq's coalitional struggles -- Iraq's ruling coalition -- The Opposition Coalition -- The economic impact of sanctions on Iraq -- Phase one: 1990-6 -- Phase two: 1996-2003 -- The impact of sanctions on Iraqi social conflict: 1990-6 -- Regime responses, 1990-2 -- Regime responses, 1992-6 -- Sanctions and the Iraqi Opposition, 1990-6 -- Iraq's coalitional struggles under the OFFP -- Regime responses to the OFFP -- The Opposition under the OFFP -- Conclusion. Conclusion : sanctions and ruling coalitions -- Sanctions and opposition forces -- Targeted sanctions: not so "Smart?" -- Rethinking the appeal of sanctions -- Recommendations for sanctions advocates and policymakers -- Abandon analogical reasoning -- Planning and evaluating sanctions.

Today, international economic sanctions are imposed in response to virtually every serious international crisis, whether to promote regime change and democratisation, punish armed aggression, or check nuclear proliferation. But how exactly is the economic pain inflicted by sanctions supposed to translate into political gain? What are the mechanisms by which sanctions operate - or fail to operate? This is the first comparative study of this vital question. Drawing on Gramscian state theory, 'Societies under siege' provides a novel analytical framework to study how sanctions are mediated through the domestic political economy and state-society relations of target states and filter through into political outcomes - whether those sought by the states imposing sanctions or, as frequently occurs, unintended and even highly perverse consequences. Detailed case studies of sanctions aimed at regime change in three pivotal cases - South Africa, Iraq and Myanmar - are used to explore how different types of sanctions function across time and space.