For years, the international community has been deeply divided on the merits of using economic sanctions as a tactic to press Burma’s ruling military junta to change. Often it seemed as though the only ones to be affected by import bans and consumer boycotts were common workers left jobless by shutdowns.

But in the wake of the Burmese military’s recent crackdown on Buddhist monks and other anti-government protesters, the US and Australia financially blacklisted businesspeople and companies considered close to the ruling junta.