The Economic Statecraft Initiative

Housed within the GeoEconomics Center, the Economic Statecraft Initiative (ESI) publishes leading-edge research and analysis on sanctions and the use of economic power to achieve foreign policy objectives and protect national security interests. Coercive and positive economic statecraft measures are increasingly used by the United States, European Union, and their allies and partners to address global challenges.

ESI convenes public events and private roundtable discussions to explore challenges and opportunities, providing policymakers and the private sector with unbiased data-driven analysis and actionable recommendations to shape economic statecraft solutions to global challenges.

The Economic Statecraft Initiative resides within the GeoEconomics Center, a translation hub at the nexus of economics, finance, and foreign policy with the goal of helping shape a better global economic future.

Research and Analysis

Testimony

On February 20, 2025, Economic Statecraft Initiative Director Kimberly Donovan testified to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission at a hearing titled, “An Axis of Autocracy? China’s Relations with Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

Featured Report

The economic statecraft landscape is becoming more complex as transatlantic partners increasingly leverage economic power to counter transnational threats. There is a growing need to understand how these tools are used, by whom, and when, as well as their intended and real impacts worldwide.

Blog Post

Jun 8, 2021

The growing global alignment in regulating Chinese trade and investment

By John Kabealo

The rapid revisions to US FDI and trade policy and the fast momentum the United States has helped to create in its diplomatic efforts reflect a near uniform consensus in the United States, and a growing consensus among our allies, that cross-border trade and investment are squarely issues of national security. Traditional US transatlantic allies appear to be serving US interests, and other countries with complex relations with China are adopting FDI screening processes that mimic CFIUS. The numerous efforts to revise statutory and regulatory regimes are an unmistakable signal that the view of China as a rival, and indeed a threat, to the established global order, is both widespread and likely to endure.

China Defense Technologies

EconoGraphics

May 14, 2021

Global Sanctions Dashboard: April

By Julia Friedlander, Michael Albanese and Castellum.AI

UN sanctions, UK’s new anti-corruption authority, the Kremlin’s use of sanctions as a law enforcement mechanism.

European Union Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

Blog Post

Apr 19, 2021

An EAR-evolution? What Commerce’s military intelligence end-user rule may foretell

By Annie Froehlich

Export controls have become an increasingly prominent tool in the US' foreign policy. However, a new rule that restricts the activities of US persons may foretell a shift in tactics.

Arms Control China

EconoGraphics

Apr 14, 2021

Global Sanctions Dashboard: March

By Julia Friedlander, Michael Albanese and Castellum.AI

Growing international sanctions response to Chinese behavior, the Iran nuclear deal talks in Vienna, and the crisis in Myanmar.

China European Union

New Atlanticist

Mar 31, 2021

When did ‘ally’ become a dirty word?

By Julia Friedlander

The solutions to the twenty-first century’s transnational problems can only come as the result of true collective action. This will require the Biden administration—and US leaders more broadly—to reimagine the architecture of its alliance-building, starting with the talking points.

NATO Politics & Diplomacy

Lexicon

Economic Statecraft Lexicon

A comprehensive resource designed to clarify and enhance understanding of key terms and concepts in the economic statecraft field. The Lexicon represents a collaborative effort to support more effective communication and informed decision-making on economic statecraft.

Events

Transatlantic Forum

The Transatlantic Forum on GeoEconomics is our annual flagship conference convening economic and financial leaders from both sides of the Atlantic, and launches cutting-edge research and analysis on transatlantic alignment on economic statecraft.

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Staff

Fellows

Content