This article2
intends to explore why there has been an increase in the imposition of EU autonomous
sanctions in the last decade although they are accepted ‘ineffective’. Based on the coercive nature of
sanctions within the areas of International Relations and International Political Economy, the
emphasis has been put on a historical materialist approach, which advocates that the relationship
between market intentions and political culture of sanctions is not necessarily deterministic, but rather
dialectical. To understand to what extent market intentions play role in this strike, the
multidisciplinary theory of Neo-Gramscianism is chosen to conduct an empirical analysis of case
comparison. The concept of ‘hegemony’ that the relevant theory has brought forward, has motivated a
research on how the EU utilizes autonomous sanctions as an instrument to obtain its political and
cultural hegemony.