Do Sanctions Ever Work?

QUESTION: Hello, with all the talk of sanctions in the news against North Korea and Iran, have sanctions against a country ever worked? Aren’t they a pretext that leads to violence and war? Has any country that was developing nuclear weapons ever been prevented from eventually having them?

Thanks,

Bill

ANSWER: Sanctions have never worked. I cannot find a single instance where they have ever worked against a country. They are simply punitive in nature and have more of a tendency to lead to confrontation and violence. Take the sanctions against Russia. There is no way they can possibly work. If Putin were to say he surrenders, the Russian people would throw him out. It would be a huge humiliation politically for Russia. So there is zero chance of success. All it does is create tensions.