Do sanctions ever actually work as intended?
To this casual bystander it seems like they usually hurt innocent citizens far more than the leaders of the usually authoritarion regime that it targets.
To this casual bystander it seems like they usually hurt innocent citizens far more than the leaders of the usually authoritarion regime that it targets.
That's kinda the point. The common folk put pressure on their leaders to correct their behavior.
Has that strategy ever worked?
But sure.. usually it doesn't really work out.
Of course weakening the target country economically, politically and militarily is still better than nothing,
Do you not think that at least 50% of all people in Russia would vote for Putin or his affiliates (even if the elections weren't falsified)? Therefore most people in Russia are certainly not innocent.
> "lowest classes"
I find it hard to believe that there aren't plenty of people who are middle class and above who support the regime. After all Russia's economy is almost entirely based on raw resources extraction and (now) military related industries.
> If your image of the Russian society is based solely on US left-wing media
And yours is based on Kremlin propaganda channels and media sources? See what I did there? Both assumptions are equally valid/invalid and neither contributes anything to a meaningful discussion besides immediately shutting down the possibility of one existing.
We can and know that. Just talk with your fellow Russians.
Nor are Americans, by this standard - what we've done directly in Syria & Iraq is quite bad and enjoyed substantial popular support.