lives lived under sanctions

LESSON 4

GOALS: Often sanctions seem to be an abstract and highly specialized foreign policy that only impacts targeted bad actors in rogue countries. The objective of this lesson is to show the complexities of sanctions by revealing the effects they have on the lived experience of the civilian population through relatable media.

INSTRUCTIONS: Either the day before or at the start of class, distribute the Lives Lived Under Sanctions Comic. Either in small groups or as a class, discuss the comic and what it reveals about the everyday experience of people living under sanctioned governments. (Recommend using the Harkness Method for class discussions.)

Some topic areas to help promote conversation:

  • Do all Iranians support their government? Do sanctions differentiate between supporters and the opposition?

  • Why were sanctions harmful to Mehdi’s efforts to support the reform movement in Iran?

  • How did sanctions further isolate Iran (Business – Behzad, Students – Yasaman, Politics – Majid)? Did this further U.S. interests?

  • Do sanctions promote pro-Western sentiments or anti-Western resentment?

  • What happened to the reformist political candidates and voter turnout after the reimposition of sanctions under Trump’s Maximum Pressure strategy?

  • What do we learn about the impact of sanctions on Iranian social welfare through the story of Maryam?

ASSIGNMENT: Students should write down their findings and formulate an opinion about the impact sanctions have upon the population of a targeted country and how it effects the success or failure of the policy goals.