Artikel A Double-Edged Sword: Targeted Sanctions as a Crisis Prevention Tool Targeted sanctions can be an effective instrument in crisis prevention particularly when combined with mediation efforts but they need to be used with great caution. Germany should push for significant reforms of the UN and EU sanctions regimes in order to increase their effectiveness, avoid adverse humanitarian impact and human rights violations, and to ensure coherence between multiple sanctions regimes. Marcos Tourinho • 19 October 2016