That sure seems to have worked out well in North Korea and Iran and Cuba and also the last time we tried it with Russia. The presence of external threats, in general, tend to strengthen support for dictators rather than to weaken them.
Surely it has? All those countries are crippled economically and only get attention on a global stage by saber rattling or when they decide to start looking to negotiate their way out.
I hardly think Kim Jong Un has "strengthened support" from NK citizens, bar the top elite. They just get shot if they step out of line.
Iran has a similar environment of fear, though not as totally controlling.
I'm not sure what Cuba is like for political repression, but the people are hardly supportive of the government as i understand it.
For what its worth, i don't believe imposing sanctions on Iran/Cuba is reasonable now. With the right diplomacy Iran looks to want to come to an agreement, and Cuba is no threat to anyone.
Russia is in a better position while they have support from China. But there is still an affect. Also, i don't think it's possible to happily trade with Russia as if they were an ally while Putin grabs land from other eastern European countries.
Right, but it hasn't actually accomplished anything other than making their populations suffer. Every single one of these regimes are still around. The sanctions haven't succeeded in anything other than making the countries more miserable places to live in.
If the premise was that the governments would care about their people and give in, or the people would turn on their governments, then no, that's just not happened.
Just to make a counter point, we only know when this doesn't work. We don't know the times people relied in diplomatic solutions rather than suffer these consequences.
