International sanctions rarely achieve their stated foreign policy goals and often punish ordinary citizens more than the regimes they target. Look at Cuba: six decades of U.S. embargo haven't toppled the government, but they've made life measurably harder for everyday Cubans. Meanwhile, sanctioned countries like Iran and North Korea adapt by deepening ties with each other or with China, so the intended diplomatic leverage dissipates. Sanctions may signal moral disapproval, but they're a blunt tool that keeps failing while generating humanitarian costs we don't fully track. Should we keep relying on this strategy when the evidence for its effectiveness is so thin?