Zep Kalb is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University, where he is based at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies. He received his PhD in Sociology from UCLA. Kalb researches labor, economic development, and state-making, with a focus on authoritarian regimes.

August 15, 2024

Reviews

Who Benefits From Sanctions?

On “How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare” by Narges Bajoghli, Vali Nasr, Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, and Ali Vaez

Sanctions against Iran amount to some of the harshest and longest-running restrictions in the world. Dating back to the 1979 revolution that overthrew one of America’s closest allies in the region, early sanctions imposed primarily by the US froze Iranian…

August 23, 2023

Analysis

Coercion and Inequality

The distributional effects of sanctions in Iran

, Zep Kalb

“Plumbing” is an oft-used metaphor for understanding how sanctions work. Sanctions are intended to stop the flow of money to the targeted government; reserves are frozen, trade is blocked, export revenues dry up, and government budgets are drained. Even the…