Economic Sanctions: An Afterthought

I think one reason the United States overuses economic sanctions is that they can be highly effective against countries where the government is controlled by businesses.

Unfortunately, not every country is like ours in that way. Some countries, for example, are controlled by Michael Jackson fans instead. Others were controlled for years by fans of Saparmurat Niyazov.

I will offer the same advice to top U.S. policy-setters as is given to husbands and wives in hundreds of New York Times best-selling pop psychology books: not everyone thinks like you. Deal with it.