re. Ineffective --- The degree of pressure that economic sanctions can impose on the government and/or targeted elites varies considerably. It depends on a myriad of factors, such as the political and economic power of the state applying sactions, the resilience of the targeted state, its network of allies, etc. I would not generalise and say that sanctions are ineffective in terms of exerting pressure on targeted actors, but I do agree that the pressure from 'the bottom-up' that you mentioned (social discontentment and mistrust) is very important and somewhat overlooked.

Source author: Marília Maciel MariliaM@diplomacy.edu