Permeable borders make many things more difficult to actualize, especially sovereignty and stability. That difficulty also applies to sanctions. While sanctions have their place in the diplomatic scheme of things, their success depends on universal acceptance and full enforcement, both of which have been missing from recent applications of sanctions by the U.S. Beyond that, sanctions have their own limits.
We have reckoned that this tool of diplomacy has four kinds of vulnerabilities: Circumventing Sanctions, Outmaneuvering Sanctions, Blowback from Sanctions and Counterproductive Sanctions. Targeted restrictions have worked when they have been short-term and surprising; they weaken as time passes and as targets learn how to work around them. With their sanctions against Russia and China, Western leaders face the prospect of lessening efficacy of their restrictions and must decide to continue with the same sanctions, add new sanctions to revive their viability or try something else, even engaging directly with adversaries.