Test students' ability to evaluate the effectiveness and legitimacy of international economic sanctions as instruments of state behavior via a focused comparative case study of Iran (2006–2020) and Russia (2014–present), assessing sanction objectives, economic and political impacts, compliance and coercion outcomes, legal and ethical legitimacy under international law, unintended third‑party effects, measurement and attribution challenges, and policy alternatives; requires synthesis of empirical evidence and reasoned policy judgments.