Imposing Sanctions

They work partially, some of the time.

This is the history of economic sanctions, a foreign policy tool that has been applied to various regimes over the past decades, most notably for 52 years against Cuba, with no impact at all if defeating the Castros was the objective, against South Africa to force an end to apartheid, and more recently against Iran, arguably with some success at least in pushing that country into negotiations regarding its nuclear program

America, and its (at times) reluctant European allies, are now using sanctions to counter Russia's adventurism in Eastern Ukraine. With a military response clearly off the table, the West  responded to Russia's annexation of the Crimea in March first with so-called "smart" financial sanctions aimed directly at Vladimir Putin's close associates, and re-enforced these with an embargo of exports of certain high-tech equipment. The intent, to stop further Russian incursion, clearly failed, as Mr. Putin continued with a barely-disguised military strategy to disrupt then control Donetsk and other Russian-speaking cities in Eastern Ukraine; he also imposed sanctions of his own, stopping food imports, and in August even closing some branches of McDonald's, citing health concerns. The downing of a Malaysian airliner in July by pro-Russian forces toughened the European stance, as more Russian individuals were targeted and new measures restricted Russian state-owned banks from access to long-term financing in London, Frankfurt and other European capital markets. A much bolder plan was then floated by the UK, whereby Russian banks would be blocked from using the SWIFT network, a Brussels-based system of international bank-to-bank payments that would seriously disrupt Russia's internationally active companies (in 2012 America convinced SWIFT to halt Iranian banks' access, a move widely credited with a sudden change of direction in Tehran's nuclear policy). While this measure is being considered, the Obama administration has more recently moved to ban American companies from providing advice and services to Russia's Rosneft, the state-owned oil company. Oil output makes up about one-fifth of Russia's gross domestic product, and taxes on oil and gas production contribute more than half of government revenue. Technical expertise is sorely lacking in Russia. Hitting this sector thus has the potential to choke the Russian economy, already showing clear signs of accelerating inflation and anemic growth.

Sanctions, then - especially if they continue to be ratcheted up - cannot be ignored by Mr. Putin, if only because they are pushing a fragile economy into outright recession. The Russian rouble is at an all-time low against the US dollar. Russia's former finance minister, Alexei Kudrin, has estimated a 5% contraction in GDP if more sanctions are brought to bear. As well, the strain is evident within the Russian elite, with renewed infighting. Political and economic conditions aren't desperate yet, but it's not a huge stretch to suggest they could become so.