I’m not optimistic. Look at Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and pre-WWII Japan. How did, in many cases decades long, trade tariffs or embargoes work out? Well

I’m not optimistic. Look at Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and pre-WWII Japan. How did, in many cases decades long, trade tariffs or embargoes work out? Well it certainly crippled the targeted economies and impoverished their citizens. But I am not aware of any historical case where trade penalties have curbed human rights abuses. On the other hand, if you look at south east Asia, you see a different pattern. As wealth and trade have increased, so have the lives of the people there improved. Not at all at once, and there are plenty of aberrations, but on the whole, little by little, things are getting better.