Greenwald Publishes OpEd in The Diplomat
Michael B. Greenwald (Pardee ’07), Lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published a recent Op-Ed exploring how an executive order spelling out a new Economic Patriot Act would enable a smarter sanctions strategy.
Greenwald’s article, entitled “To Manage Great Power Competition, America Needs a New Economic Patriot Act,” was published in The Diplomat on April 17, 2019.
From the text of the article:
Since 9/11, Washington has deployed a powerful weapon to halt the financing of terrorism: the Patriot Act’s Section 311. By shutting down the ability of banks to facilitate cross-border payments, Section 311 has revolutionized the field of anti-money laundering and helped the U.S. lead aggressive and effective sanctions against Iran and North Korea.
While this was an extremely useful tool in the war on terror, the strategic environment is changing. Rogue states, terrorists, and money launderers have developed innovative tactics to evade sanctions. Meanwhile, shifts in the global economy have altered Washington’s sanctions calculus. In today’s era of great power competition, priority threats are no longer rogue states with little economic clout but nations with systemically important financial institutions and economic linkages. Russia and China top the list.
America’s sanctions strategy, however, hasn’t evolved to meet this challenge. Like Thor’s hammer, Section 311 remains a powerful tool, but its collateral costs are too high to confront banks that are too big to fail. It’s time for a new Economic Patriot Act that can provide the scalpel-like instruments Washington needs to thwart our adversaries with speed and precision.
Michael B. Greenwald is currently a Senior Vice President of Tiedemann Advisors and is responsible for working with clients and prospective clients and assisting with the Firm’s business development efforts. Michael is also the Senior Advisor to the President and CEO Fred Kempe of the Atlantic Council. Learn more about him here.