No problem.
I want to ask Mr. Biersteker a very basic question but one which I think is very fundamental.
How do we know that sanctions work? What measures are in place to monitor that? I know it's a very simplistic question, but I ask it with this in mind. If the aim of sanctions is fundamentally to encourage a change in behaviour, to take one example, there are many factors that precipitate a change in behaviour that might not have anything to do with sanctions. I'm thinking of changes in the organizational structure of a particular regime. I'm thinking of greater access to financial resources, for example, among the opposition that can then, once they have those resources, put pressure on the governing powers and bring about change that way.
How do we know that sanctions actually work when there is a change and that there weren't other factors that brought about that change?