Sanctions: What Are They Good For?

When words are too weak and war is too costly, sanctions are increasingly the tool countries use to punish bad behavior around the world. What they achieve, however, often seems to fall short of their stated aims.

A dictator brutalizes his people. A country attacks its neighbor. A regime pursues nuclear weapons. These are common crises that threaten peace, stability, and national interests. How to confront them has long vexed policymakers, especially in the US and its allies, which peg their global credibility to safeguarding rules-based relations and free trade. 

The options available to them are often more bad than good. A strongly worded condemnation may be worth little more than the paper - or tweet - it's written on. At the other extreme, armed intervention risks blood and treasure without certainty of success.