Engage or Not? Conclusions and Policy Implications

Abstract

This chapter puts the combined findings on sanction limitations in the context of transaction cost assumptions of firm-level asset internationalization. The link is exemplified through the agenda setting dynamic of the November 2014 APEC summit during which policy formation on issues affecting the future of Myanmar's democracy and Russo-American relations points to the futility of sanctions. An insight comes from the soft power analysis of information exchange. As sanctions lower the number and scope of international sources of information that challenge local political elites, they provide an information exchange rent platform that repressive regimes can use to augment their domestic and international diplomatic power.