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[–] ShinyVoater 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

"Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests." — Lord Palmerston

"War is merely the continuation of policy by other means." — Carl von Clausewitz

International relations are essentially psychopathic. War's become gauche, but the game hasn't changed because of it. The situation in Ukraine is perhaps the most obvious illustration: Russia had secured its strategic interest in Crimea by normal methods when the Soviet Union broke up, but didn't hesitate to invade when it thought that it might be in jeopardy and proceeded to stir up rebellion in the east of the Ukrainian mainland(refusing to annex the area), most likely looking to topple the regime or make it too toxic for NATO to consider expanding to; sanctions placed on Russia merely had the effect of making them double down on the policy.

On the other side, we have the Iran situation, in which a coalition of countries used sanctions to coerce Iran to the bargaining table over its nuclear program While it's not war, it's the same psychopathy: it's the common man on the streets who suffers the most from these policies, not the leaders who, as in Russia, can easily gain politically from sanctions being imposed over their policies.