Anxiety and Fantasy: A Psychoanalytic Approach to the Continuity of the EUʼs Sanctions Policy Regarding Russia and Myanmar
Journal: Czech Journal of International Relations
Year: 2026

This article employs Lacanian psychoanalysis to explain why the EU maintains its sanctions against Russia and Myanmar despite their questionable effectiveness. The framework moves beyond traditional identity, normative and interest-based explanations. By integrating existential concerns with psychoanalytic insights, this article illuminates the understudied emotional dimensions of the EU sanctions policy, offering a deeper understanding of the sanctions policy continuity through the nonconscious