+113 Placing a trade sanction on a country to punish its leaders isn't the greatest idea, it will only worsen the living conditions of the people, amirite?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Cuba....

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Sudan too.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

well, it may do that in the short run and the powerful countries who control the sanctions have to be very alert and aware of the consequences. But forcing changes at the government level is a huge necessity in changing the lives of the people for the better and for the long term. We can't just let bad governments and oppressive leaders go unchecked and unaccountable

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I think the main victims are the people of the county in question, as an oppressive leader is a dictator that is likely to stay in office until he's either elected out (if elections weren't corrupt; which they probably will be) or removed by a revolution of the people. All these sanctions are only destroying economies making it harder for them to rebuild their country. For instance; they get to import wheat but not the machinery that would help them grow it themselves, turning the country into a dependent poor country on top of all their problems of oppression and lost freedoms, while those who are supposedly getting punished are pushing the people further under poverty line because they will keep on fulfilling their greedy needs regardless of the income now being decreased.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

idk, saying "just ignore the bad government, it's hopeless" means the country will never have a chance to develop. Granted, work at BOTH the government and local levels is important

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'm not saying they should be ignored, of course not. I'm just saying that the people are going to be punished even more than the leaders. Which on one hand is going to cause public upset; leading to local movement towards change (but leaders usually channel that public upset towards the countries placing the sanctions, claiming it's an evil plan to keep their country down and then they adopt the attitude of heroes standing up to injustice.) on the other hand it is very unfair. I believe it does more harm than good. Other than that I agree, measures need to be taken on both government and local levels, the question is what is the nature of those measures on government scale that are going to prove most efficient?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Well said

by Anonymous 11 years ago