Authors: Shivangi Kaushik, Tanisha Banthia, Reena Choudhary, Mahima Chaudhary, Diyaa Goswami, Drushti Vagal and Noel Mathew

ABSTRACT

This article views the reestablished significance of economic statecraft in international relations, especially the major powers’ strategic employing of sanctions and supply-chain management. The authors of this paper argue against the ideas of liberal thinkers which suggest that economic interdependence is a guarantee of stability, by claiming that contemporary globalization has driven states that are strategically located in the financial and production networks to turn economic ties into a weapon for geopolitical advantage. The qualitative comparative case-study method is employed in the paper to explore two important cases, namely the United States–China technology conflict and the EU’s sanctioning of Russia in connection with the Ukraine crisis. These cases indicate that economic coercion seldom results in instant political surrender; rather, it precipitates longterm structural changes like switching suppliers, cutting ties, and moving production locations. The research adds to the discussion on interdependence through the use of power by clarifying that the use of economic statecraft is not a matter of short-term punishment but rather of changing globally dependent patterns in a highly disunited international order.