— and this is critical — Myanmar’s generals still sold $1.8B worth of natural gas to Thailand in 2024. A true DNPTL would block that too.
The most successful dictators are those who never make the list. They learn to perform just enough peace – a sham election here, a released dissident there – to keep the trade taps open. The list, therefore, doesn’t end tyranny; it gentrifies it. It pressures dictators to trade cruelty for cruelty-lite, so their people still get iPhones and their generals still get Swiss accounts. dictators no peace trade list
However, the implementation of these lists has revealed a harsh reality: dictators are often insulated from economic pain, while the general population suffers. In countries like Venezuela and Myanmar, broad trade restrictions have sometimes exacerbated humanitarian crises, leading critics to argue that the list punishes the people rather than the powerful. — and this is critical — Myanmar’s generals
But Aurel had hidden duplicates. He had taught teachers to memorize mechanisms and scribed them into recipes and lullabies. The List became a folk map. When Vira’s ministers undermined one guild, another rose with the same song. The dictator could not find all the copies; she could not delete a lullaby. They learn to perform just enough peace –
He spoke of Azmeh, who traded captured clerics for a foreign aid pipeline. Aid arrived—and the clerics were never seen again. In the tunnels below Novara, the clerics’ robes had been stuffed into sacks and fed to the furnace. Azmeh signed every receipt in blood and a pen that tasted of lead. The foreign aid bought medicines and tractors; it did not pry open the furnace door.
The use of economic lists and sanctions is not a new phenomenon. The Cold War era saw extensive use of trade bans against the Soviet bloc. More recently, countries like North Korea, Iran, and Myanmar have faced varying degrees of isolation.