Letter to the editor: Use sanctions better

As far as I know, the current method we use is to impose sanctions and leave them in place until the targeted government changes policy due to the hardships created by the sanctions.

But in reality, I see very little positive effect from the use of sanctions. Cuba, Iran, and North Korea, for example, have been subjected to sanctions for decades, but they still have not crumbled under the weight of their economic difficulties.

Perhaps at least one of the reasons for their ability to withstand prolonged periods of sanctioning is that humans are very good at adapting, both physically and psychologically, to whatever conditions they find themselves in, especially over time.

I think a more effective method of using sanctions would be to impose randomly timed periodic sanctioning cycles that are measured in terms of many months, or even years.

This strategy would need to address and deal with the defense of stockpiling goods and resources. Some commodities would need to have sustained sanctions or strictly limited and timed periods of availability, while others could be cycled at various intervals without quantity limits.

An entire field of psychology and methodology could be developed around this concept.

The idea is to prevent people from adapting to the sanctions. People will tire much more quickly of repeated, unpredictable cycles of having, and then not having, than they will of simply not having.

The ultimate goal is to create conditions that will provoke the general population to rise up and force their government to change, and to do so as quickly as possible.

In a world of rapidly evolving technology and sociology, the science of sanctions seems to remain lost in the Stone Age.

David Conner

The Dalles