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Abstract
In this dissertation, I delve into the motivations behind countries’ use of economic sanctions and their impacts. The first essay shows that the UN’s human rights advocacy prompts greater support for sanctions among US citizens against governments violating these rights. This support is primarily driven by concerns over the US’s reputation. The second essay explores how struggling governments may deploy sanctions to divert attention from domestic difficulties and solicit support. Findings suggest that such a diversionary tactic is more common when governments face large-scale nonviolent mobilization and legislative opposition. In the third essay, I demonstrate that citizens of targeted countries tend to oppose human rights values when exposed to competing narratives from the sanctioning country and their own government. Additionally, information about sanctions diminishes people’s sympathy for antigovernment protests. Target citizens’ perception of the sanctioning country as a threat serving as a key factor in these unintended consequences.