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This paper aims to highlight the lacunae in international trade law concerning unilateral economic sanctions that impact food security.

This paper adopts a literature review to establish that unilateral economic sanctions impact food security and a descriptive assessment of a few such sanctions. Thereafter, it adopts doctrinal analysis of such sanctions under World Trade Organization law and identifies the gaps to address the specific situation of unilateral economic sanctions that impact food security.

Unilateral economic sanctions are not effectively regulated under international law. Unilateral economic sanctions are known to impact food security not just in the targeted country but also in third countries. Under international trade law, the security exception under Article XXI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) does not currently require an assessment of necessity and proportionality of measure. However, there is scope for such an assessment in the future depending on the circumstances, particularly if a measure impacts the rights and interests of third countries by impacting global food security.

The paper conducts a literature review of the impact of unilateral economic sanctions on food security. It highlights the gap in the interpretation of GATT Article XXI when assessing such sanctions that adversely impact the food security of third countries. The paper may be helpful for academics, policymakers, international organizations, non-governmental organisations, etc.

Russia's attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, marked a very historic turning point in European security architecture. With enlarged Western aid in the immediate aftermath of the invasion, Ukraine could have overcome somehow the crisis, yet many of its cities and infrastructure were largely destroyed and one-quarter of its citizens are now refugees and displaced. What is even more serious is that it remains unclear if and how a diplomatic solution could emerge between the parties. Russia's war against Ukraine is not an overnight event, it is a part of the story of the gradual escalation of Russian aggression on Ukraine since the beginning of the 2000s. Indeed, it is not just the result of the ideological or geopolitical competition between the West/European Union (EU) and Russia regarding their mutually exclusive or even antagonistic integration policies in the shared neighborhood. It is a more dynamic process including the agency of Ukraine with all aspects of its domestic politics and societal features, ideology, the role of energy, business links as well as the impact of regional and global dimensions. This chapter aims to overview the interlinked relationship between the EU, Ukraine, and Russia in a triadic manner within key aspects including ideology, geopolitics, energy, and integration projects and by specifically focusing on the underlying factors that have triggered the emergence of the Russia–Ukraine war of 2022 and further implications for the EU politics.

This paper aims to discuss the adequacy of restrictive measures. Providing a synopsis of a global movement toward the imposition of target restrictive measures. Questioning the success of targeted restrictive measures in obtaining behavioural change. Identifying a reversion to the implementation of wide ranging sectoral restrictive measures in an attempt to encourage immediate behavioural change. Accessing the success of using restrictive measures to encourage democratic regimes in Africa.

This study is a desktop research that examines European Parliament and Council issued Regulations for the jurisdictions of Iran, Russia and Belarus. Academic research is also used in identifying a pendulum swing by global legislatures with respect to the imposition of targeted measures to requiring the imposition of additional wide ranging sectoral measures.

Targeted measures can be circumvented using non-hostile third countries. Academic research identifies that wide reaching sectoral sanctions encourage regime change. Therefore, where targeted measures fail to give rise to their desired persuasive objectives. The legislator moves to introduce additional measures, also comprising of sectoral sanctions. Sectoral sanctions have been applied by the European Union in Iran, Russia and Belarus. The USA has taken measures to limit Russia ability to use Turkey as a transshipment hub. The African continent case study identifies the importance of creating an architecture founded on upholding positive governance and human rights standards. Failure to do so leads to a revolving system of authoritarian regimes, sanctioned by restrictive measures.

This paper is a desktop review composed by the author.

From the 1990s to the present, decision-makers around the world have sought to identify the most appropriate legal framework to support the energy transition. This research aims to analyze the institutional dynamics of renewable energy promotion, focusing on regulatory aspects at the European and national level and emphasizing the case of Romania through several comparative approaches. In the context of the conflict in Ukraine, we focused on the issue of coal, which was reconsidered given the dependence of some European countries on this resource. The main research methods used in this study are comparative analysis and analysis of chronological information in a historical context, with correlations being made. The study was structured in three stages, the first from the 1990s until the European Energy Union formation, the second during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the third from the emergence of the conflict in Ukraine, which determined the recalibration of previously adopted measures. Starting from the hypotheses formulated and considering the regulatory scenario conducive to the transfer of public funds to achieve climate neutrality, the results of the study show the fact that, at this stage of the research, the states of the European continent are determined to fight for zero carbon by 2050. One result we found interesting is that almost a year after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, less than a quarter of European states have moved past their assumed deadline for phasing out coal in the national mix.

The current political situation in Europe has amplified economic sanctions as a retaliatory measure for states not directly involved in the conflict but wanting to influence the political situation. The purpose of this paper is to further understand the interplay of the neutrality principle and employment of economic sanctions.

Through an extensive literature review, heavily based on the publications of the Swiss Confederacy, neutrality as a foreign policy serving to promote Swiss interests is explored. The room for interpretation and freedom of action in the neutrality principle is highlighted above all.

Economic sanctions are compatible with the neutrality principle, but do not necessarily further the same purpose. Political pressure to participate in sanctions does not take into consideration the ways in which the credibility of neutrality can be implicated, as well as the value of protecting Switzerland’s role as an international mediator.

The consistency with which the neutrality principle is translated into the modern geopolitical context is crucial for its longevity. The novelty of the current political sanctions, still unfolding, demands a careful examination into the history of neutrality and the use of sanctions. No better insight can be offered than by the development of neutrality in the history of the titan of neutrality, Switzerland.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the practical problems which Swiss financial service providers face following the government’s decision to implement economic sanctions.

The practical problems of implementation are based on the identified methods of circumvention in the first author’s empirical research on the mechanisms of money laundering.

Secure anti-money laundering mechanisms promote the smooth implementation of sanctions. Despite the novelty of specific sanctions requirement, it is possible to have a supportive framework in place. Also, there remain a number of practical hurdles for Swiss banks to overcome, including the pressure on sanction alignment and the significant threat of noncompliance.

The sanctions imposed on Russia in 2022 are largely examined either from a broad political perspective or from the finite details of a business consultancy perspective. This paper aims to reconcile both perspectives to illustrate how the concrete problems of sanction implementation becomes evident in the wider political picture.

The purpose of this paper was identification and empirical assessment of the differentiation of consumers' attitudes in Ukraine and Poland to Russian brands and other brands offered on the Russian market after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

The main research methods include a systematic literature review and the authors' own surveys conducted in November 2022. The research sample comprised 950 consumers – 67% of them were Poles, 30% – Ukrainians and 3% from other countries.

A respondents' country (Poland and Ukraine) does not impact attitudes to brands offered on the Russian market after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Moreover, it does not affect and differentiate emotional engagement in the conflict and assistance to war victims. Cluster analysis resulted in identifying two groups on the basis of consumers' declared emotional reactions to the war. The first group was smaller (N = 353, 37.2%), referred to as “indifferent consumers”, and was characterized by a greater inclination to purchase brands offered in Russia. The other cluster, referred to as “sensitive consumers” (N = 597, 62.8%), comprises those engaged in offering assistance to war victims, showing strong emotions in connection with the aggression and military activities and characterized by a clearly negative attitude to Russian and other offered brands and an inclination to boycott these brands.

A short time horizon, the study confined to two countries, difficulties in reaching Ukrainian respondents due to power failures in Ukraine in the period of conducting the survey (November 2022), a non-representative research sample – overrepresentation of people aged 18–25 years.

The research study contributes to the knowledge about consumer brand attitudes and preferences under unique social, economic and market conditions. These conditions were created by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as well as the international and global character of the war in Ukraine. The significant implications of the study refer to brand communication policies and companies' CSR-related declarations. A number of consumers' errors were recorded, resulting from wrong brand retrieval, which were rectified at a later stage as a result of international restrictions imposed on Russia, harsh media criticism and social international embargoes imposed on brands offered in Russia. The marketing communication of contemporary global brands should give consideration to the informative function of CSR activities, and the communication process should be continuous. Critical attitudes and an inclination to boycott brands point to the possible consequences faced by inconsistent and ethically doubtful brand policies. This implication is clearly confirmed by the results of the study.

The authors also wish to highlight the implications for practice and society. As mentioned earlier, Polish consumers involved in providing aid to victims of the war also expressed their opposition to the war by boycotting Russian products and international brands remaining in Russia. Popularization of the research results obtained by the authors can be a form of sensitizing the public to the need for long-term relief, awakening global awareness of the essence and importance of sanctions imposed on Russia, as well as the possibility of expressing opposition through individual purchasing decisions and boycotting brands still present in Russia.

The study allowed for identifying consumers' differentiated brand attitudes in two countries: a country inflicted by war (Ukraine) and a front-line country, strongly supporting Ukraine (Poland). The research contributes to consumer behavior theories and studies of consumer attitudes and preferences from the perspective of international corporations' CSR activities under the unique conditions of war. Also, it contributes to the knowledge of the mechanism of forming attitudes to Russian and international brands offered in Russia among CEE consumers.