undefined | Better HN

0 pointsreissbaker6mo ago0 comments

Do those sanctions even work?

Well, you mentioned "North Korea still builds nuclear weapons," but didn't mention Iran having them. So, something worked. It wasn't 100% just sanctions... But the sanctions certainly hampered their ability to acquire effective air defense.

(The NK sanctions were too late — NK had already started nuclear weapons testing before the sanctions were levied.)

Off the top of my head: I don't think the USSR is still around, and it largely collapsed due to economic pressure; Libya abandoned its nuclear program due to sanctions; and apartheid in South Africa ended largely due to sanctions.

They don't always work, but I've never heard of jeans and heavy metal working either, as nice as that would be. Belarus has plenty of both, but Lukashenko's been in power since the 90s.

0 comments

ivan_gammel6mo ago

> But the sanctions certainly hampered their ability to acquire effective air defense.

Effective air defense against military superpower (and they were effectively fighting against American technology) is something very hard to build, with or without sanctions. Ukraine is a good proof: Russia was denied air superiority using manned aircrafts but they still manage to inflict significant damage with missiles and drones.

> I don't think the USSR is still around, and it largely collapsed due to economic pressure

It wasn’t external pressure at all. Soviet Union had everything to be self-sustainable (e.g. Russia and Ukraine have proven later that in agriculture it’s absolutely possible). They failed to execute transition to regulated market economy the way China did. Gorbachev thought democracy goes first (the entire Warsaw bloc collapsed thanks to “blue jeans” - KGB and Stasi feared Western culture the most, and the West was ready to send more of it).

reissbakerOP6mo ago

Denying external economic pressure affecting the USSR seems... Wishful, in a certain direction. As does denying that sanctions have helped prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, which it has clearly been working on for a very long time, and repeatedly failing to acquire.

Regardless, you don't have an answer to Libya's nuclear program being shut down due to sanctions, and South African apartheid ending due to sanctions. Do sanctions have a 100% success rate? No. But they have a much higher success rate than jeans and heavy metal.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse