The Caesar act, because of there being no apparent realisable goal except to topple the government in Damascus, is about to cause untold misery to those living in Government and SDF-held areas while Lirafication in Idlib and Turkish occupied areas do something to mitigate impact.

I think most of academia would probably still lean towards sanctions at least having no discernable effect on regime moderation, while those that have lived under sanctions I have spoken to usually have nothing good to say.

That is why it is horrifying to see how many supposedly human-rights interested people seem so blasé or even triumphant about this. Some even calling it "punishing the hostage taker" or the like. These are real people and this is a real place.

The regime has proven undeniably resilient to turbulence. It does not moderate through pressure and as such, the only real impact is further destroying any semblance of a state left while making sure those who live under its administration further lose hope.

The only way sanctions like this would work would be if hose that implemented them believed the regime in place felt a duty of care to its citizens. Obviously the designers of the sanctions do not so why go through this?