Ryan McMaken on the political logic of sanctions

The idea behind sanctions has long been to make the population suffer so that "the people" will revolt against the ruling regime and force it to cease the policies that the sanction-imposing regimes find objectionable.  In many cases, the stated goal is regime change.  It's essentially the same philosophy behind Allied efforts to bomb German civilians during World War II: it was assumed the bombing would ruin civilians' morale and lead to domestic demands that Berlin surrender. 

Economic sanctions are less despicable than bombers targeting civilians, of course, but they are also likely less effective.  Instead of convincing the domestic population to abandon their own regime, foreign attacks on civilians—whether military or economic—often cause the domestic population to double down on their opposition to foreign powers.

~ Ryan McMaken, "Why Sanctions Don't Work, and Why They Mostly Hurt Ordinary People," Mises.org, March 9, 2022