, Columnist
Russia Sanctions Aren't Stopping Putin But May Stop Xi
Economic penalties may not change a rogue nation’s behavior right away, but they wear it down and give other leaders pause about aggression and repression.
Isolated.
Photographer: Sergei Guneyev/AFP/Getty Images
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America has a love-hate relationship with sanctions. Official Washington loves them: Their use, as tools of coercion and punishment, has expanded dramatically in recent decades. And many commentators aren’t happy about that: They argue that Washington uses sanctions reflexively, in pursuit of quixotic objectives, and in ways that undermine US power.
In some ways, the critique is plausible. Yet the case for sanctions is more persuasive than many critics realize — and their role in US policy is only increasing.