That's the point, to rile up the population so much that the regime must either cave to whatever is being demanded of them or face an uprising.

Will it work? Very iffy - often the only thing worse than an autocratic regime is whatever fills the power vacuum its fall creates. Disorderly transfers of power are bad business.

Belarussian population has been admirably fired up for quite some time. There have been multiple uprisings.

But when they're up against armed militia and police, they can't do much (this is why so many Americans are adamant about the 1st Amendment).

Targeted sanctions are the only ethical option at this point. Don't make the population suffer like we did for Iraq.

People of Belarus had enough arms in hands to start armed uprising. It was their deliberate choice to refrain from violence.

They had not. And now even hunting gear has been confiscated from those few that had it.

It's easy to call for a Hail Mary strategy from afar. Protest is becoming more common[1], but protests that successfully topple regimes remain rare.

I could swear I saw recent research indicating that the fraction of protest movements that lead to regime change has fallen over time, but I can't find it now.

[1] https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/03/10/politica...

I don't mean to call for anything, just pointing out that sanctions mainly hurting the population may be the intended effect.

That's fair. I'll soften my point, to say merely that the call is often made, not that you were making it.

Ultimately it's the people's responsibility to form a functional government that doesn't abuse it's neighbors or fellow citizens. Punishing the entire country is punishing the responsible party. If they have little power at this point to fix it at this point it's their fault for arriving at this point and they may need to pay the long term cost in blood for letting it get that bad.

Isn't the regime a responsibility of the society? I think people should bear the consequences of the regime they decided to keep having.