Sanctions are economic, military or cultural measures adopted to force a nation to change some policy or comply with international law. They can be effective in their purpose, but because they almost always affect the sanctioned population detrimentally and often not the regime for which it is specifically intended, calls are made to relax sanctions.
Sanctions have proved effective against countries such as South Africa where its racially discriminating apartheid system was recently abolished. Cuba and Iraq, however, have both endured hard hitting sanctions and are still controlled by their respective dictatorial regimes at the continuing expense of their populations. Whilst Saddam Hussain of Iraq continues to benefit from a very wealthy lifestyle, people are running short of basic needs such as food, energy and medicines. This moral argument is often used to support relaxing or denouncing sanction, for example, in 1995 by the National Council of Churches and the Episcopal Church of the USA against the sanctions imposed on Iraq.