This chapter details the basic structure of sanctions and export control regimes, and describes the sanctions programs that were in place or developed within the last ten years. It briefly discusses the most comprehensive sanctions regimes, including those imposed by the U.S. against Iran, Cuba, Syria, and North Korea. This section focuses in particular on the structure of sanctions regulations before 2022 applicable to Russia. These sanctions were more limited in nature, but were enacted with increasing frequency and scope in the immediate years before the invasion, responding to a growing list of threats from within Russia related to cyber attacks, interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea.

This chapter reviews how the recent sanctions have been enforced, both by domestic authorities and through multilateral cooperation. chapter also examines strategies taken by would-be sanctions evaders to conceal their attempts to circumvent the broad sanctions. Enforcement plays a key role in the ability of the sanctioning jurisdictions to effectively implement their sanctions and incentivize change in the behavior of the target or by parties indirectly affected by the sanctions.