As Hufbauer and Schott, among others, have illustrated, the effects of sanctions are often fairly disappointing – so much so that many scholars have concluded that such measures often are imposed so that governments can appear to domestic audiences to be “doing something.” Certainly, severe US sanctions on Cuba failed to bring the Castro regime to heel; indeed, President Barack Obama’s move to reestablish full diplomatic relations may have more effect.
哈夫鲍尔和肖特以及其他人指出，制裁的效果往往十分令人失望——许多学者甚至推论说，实施制裁的原因常常是政府为了向国内群众表明它“正在做些什么”。显然，美国队古巴的严厉制裁并没有导致卡斯特罗政权倒闭；事实上，奥巴马总统转而与古巴重建完全外交关系倒有可能效果更好。