1. Colleagues in the business sector who have recently become publicly upset with sanctions have to fight smart if their efforts are to bear fruit. The anti-sanctions campaign is not a contest between who tweets or shouts the loudest. Best to engage both the source & destination.
2. The business lobby must make a convincing case by demonstrating:
A. with facts & figures, how sanctions have hurt business & society
B. that you know (even if you disagree) what motivated those sanctions
C. that these motivations have no foundation or no longer exist
A. with facts & figures, how sanctions have hurt business & society
B. that you know (even if you disagree) what motivated those sanctions
C. that these motivations have no foundation or no longer exist
3. You have to understand the terrain of the war. There’s a paucity of knowledge regarding the nature of the sanctions regime. If serious, business associations need to engage experts to unpack the sanctions regime. That way, you know how to play the game & who to engage.
4. Finally, I would argue that if business spent as much energy imploring government to be fair, open, transparent & less spendthrift as it spends on sanctions, it would be very easy to make a case for removal. Fight battles you can win. Let’s get our government to do the basics.
