In an era of geopolitical competition and economic interdependence, the United States has increasingly turned to sanctions, export controls, and tariffs to achieve its national security and foreign policy goals. Washington is deploying these tools in more novel ways and at greater scale than at any point in the post–World War II era. Yet, American policymakers lack a doctrine or a set of clear principles on how to leverage economic pressure effectively.  
  
Through the analysis of 20 historical and ongoing cases of U.S. economic pressure, including legacy embargos, modern sanctions regimes, technology denial cases, and trade coercion, a new report from the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Energy, Economics, and Security Program (EES) proposes nine principles that can serve as the foundation of an American economic pressure doctrine. 
 
CNAS held a panel discussion on Thursday, April 23, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. ET that marked the launch of Hit It with Your Best Shot: An American Doctrine of Economic Pressure, by EES Senior Fellow and Director Emily Kilcrease. She was joined by Eva Dou, author of House of Huawei, and Richard Nephew, senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. The discussion was moderated by LtCol Mary Hossier, senior military fellow at CNAS.