The United States often considers economic sanctions preferable to outright military conflict when engaging with opposing nations, and the practice itself dates back to relations between ancient Greek city-states. But with the U.S. imposing stricter sanctions on Venezuela, after years of imposing restrictions on the country, can sanctions still be an effective tool? With U.S. diplomats strong-arming EU companies to enforce sanctions on Iran, can the pressure even be self-defeating? We’re going to consider these dilemmas today with George Lopez, professor emeritus of peace studies at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.