In her dissertation "Biased Coercion: The Imposition, Management, and Termination of US Sanctions", political scientist Hana Attia examined the initiation, implementation and lifting of sanctions by the United States. Her dissertation was honoured with the Leibniz Association's Dissertation Award in the category "Humanities and Social Sciences". Hana Attia was a doctoral researcher in the Graduate School of Decision Sciences at the University of Konstanz and a research fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA). At GIGA, she worked in two projects funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), including "The Termination of International Sanctions: Causes, Processes and Domestic Consequences".

"The United States has heavily relied on sanctions to address international challenges of peace and security. To date, the superpower has imposed more sanctions than any other country or international institution around the world. At the same time, different countries are affected more or less strongly by US sanctions."

Hana Attia

"While the US is quick to sanction some countries for their transgressions, it is hesitant to punish others. Similarly, some countries remain under US sanctions for decades, while for others’ punishment is only brief". Are US sanctions decisions systematically biased? What are the reasons for the unequal treatment of different countries?

Sanctions decisions by the United States
Hana Attia's dissertation completed at the University of Konstanz provides a comprehensive approach for studying possible domestic and international sources of bias in US sanctions decision-making. For example, sanctions can be influenced by domestic conditions. In her dissertation, she shows that leaders can impose sanctions as part of a diversionary strategy to generate domestic gains when they are facing domestic political problems such as high unemployment and the president's party has little room for political manoeuvres.

"Sanctions then allow US presidents to demonstrate their competence and leadership skills and secure the public's approval. My findings also indicate that presidents intentionally impose sanctions that do not harm the US economy when they revert to sanctions for domestic gains."

Hana Attai

In her dissertation, Hana Attia also studies the influence of international factors on the management of sanctions that are already in place. She also analyzes which political incentives and constraints influence presidents' decisions to either ease sanctions or keep them in place.

Leibniz Dissertation Award
The Leibniz Association provides one Dissertation Award each in the categories "Humanities and Social Sciences" and "Natural and Technical Sciences". The prizes worth 5,000 euros recognize outstanding dissertations completed at Leibniz member institutes. Of the almost 800 doctoral projects completed in the context of the Leibniz Association last year, Hana Attia's dissertation was selected for the award in the "Humanities and Social Sciences" category.

"I am very grateful for the award", Hana Attia says. "The PhD journey is a long and challenging one, and it means so much to me when other people recognize this work and find it interesting".
Attia completed her dissertation at the University of Konstanz in April 2023. Her supervisor was Gerald Schneider, a professor of international politics. She is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Salzburg.