Should the world community promote democracy and human rights through a policy of economic sanctions, or would a more effective tool in spreading these values be free trade?

We don't put of sanctions agaist not-democratic nations who violate people's human rights, we put up sanctions against people who we consider to be a danger to us, like Iraq or Cuba. Economic sanctions would be counter-productive in trying to promote democracy and human rights, because dictators could claim that the sanctions, imposed by The Great Satan, are the cause of their woes, not the government's policies. And sometimes they'd be right, at least partially. Sanctions are a good way to ruin a country.

How much power could one dictator and other potential dangers really have in a region supported by free trade? It seems that with free trade and capitalism, many people gain the power and are, at the least, forced to compete amongst each other -- serving some system of checks and balances. Mind you, though, you will still find yourself in a society where the many are controlled by the few. You just keep it from being one single person at the top of the food chain.

With sanctions, though, you almost hand that much more power to one source. The country may go into decline, but rather than split the power and diversify interests throughout the country, you've focused all the power and made it that much more difficult to confront (for a time at least). While it's a bit late to stop a dictator once they are in power, it seems that it would be more beneficial to promote free trade and diversify national interests. That way you can appeal to a variety of nationals to work from within.

I dunno. It's just a thought.

We put up sanctions for many different reasons, and I probably didn't word that effectively, but the ultimate goal is to bend a country to our way of thinking and to promote some action that coincides with that. My main goal with this thread is to encourage a discussion about sanctions and their positive and negative effects. Are they effective or do they cause more harm than good?

Here's a list of current U.S.sanctions from OFAC. It includes sanctions that are based on UN resolutions, and it also contains some actions that only pertain to the U.S.

Ah, yes, a sanction by any other name is still a sanction. Free trade may in theory be the opposite of sanctions, but in practice the two can have a few similarities (at least what we're calling "free trade" these days, and I'm sure Smith is rolling in his grave).

Let's look at what happens with developing countries on the "free trade" side. In order to get loans from the World Bank, they must be a member of the IMF. The IMF has some requirements, however. First, the liberalisation of markets. The privatization of public utilities. Other fiscal "austerity measures." What usually happens is this: capital flight, a shift from a subsistence economy to an export resources - import processed goods, or produce processed goods for exports, in foreign-owned factories. Farmers end up producing grain for export, and the country has to start importing food. Are people automatically better off when they shift from a barter economy (where the western ideas of wealth and poverty are less meaningful) to a monetary economy based on wages and consumption?

That said, it can be "better" than sanctions. This is perhaps true in the case of Iraq.

There are some cases where sanctions have helped change the political climate in a country - take SA for example.

Of course, then there is Cuba. They've arguably done better as a nation under sanctions from the US than if they had joined the IMF SAP club - they have a higher literacy rate than the US, their health care system is top notch, their artists and musicians are considered quite important by the government (wish we could say the same here). Don't worry, I'm not some Cuba apologist. I'm not ignorant. I know the problems they have and face. It is, however, ignorant to look at the whole of the developing world and see nothing more than fodder for the industry mill. Whether through sanctions or free trade, we're destroying a lot of vital micro-cultures. I am saddened.