Inside Story

Do diplomatic sanctions work?

Western nations extend sanctions on Belarus, but diplomats are divided on their effectiveness.

Belarus is facing new sanctions from the West.

The European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada say they are presenting a united front against President Alexander Lukashenko for repressing human rights.

The new measures include travel bans and freezing the assets of people close to the president.

From Russia to China, Myanmar and Iran, sanctions are increasingly being used to punish nations for alleged bad behaviour.

But do they work? And what are the diplomatic alternatives?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Glenn Diesen – Professor of international relations at the University of South-Eastern Norway

Ulrich Brueckner – Professor of political science at Stanford University in Berlin

Lawrence Korb – Former US assistant secretary of defence and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress