U.S. Foreign Policy, International Organizations, And Global Conflicts Practice Test

Sanctions are a coercive tool designed to raise costs and push a state toward changing its behavior. Since 2014, Western measures against Russia have targeted key levers of its economy—especially finance and energy—making it harder for Moscow to access capital, finance its activities, and obtain technology for its oil and gas sector. The goal is to squeeze revenue and constrain operating capacity, which in turn deters further aggression by increasing the political and economic costs of those actions. At the same time, sanctions express a unified international stance, reinforcing deterrence by showing that allies will coordinate consequences. Cultural exchange (not a punitive aim), boosting the energy sector (the opposite of what sanctions do), and granting UN Security Council membership (unrelated to coercive measures) don’t fit the purpose or mechanism of these sanctions.