What would it take?

 I read a lot of science fiction literature.  Some of it is escapist drivel, but not much.  I prefer what is called "hard" science fiction, where the author takes pains to keep the developments and technology believable, with Einstein's laws mostly obeyed.  Faster than light travel might be quicker if you need your protagonists to get from star system to star system in less than double-digit year timeframes, but movement through space should have some sort of limit, am I right?

One of the series I enjoy involves the development of a communication system that is instantaneous throughout the galaxy, or seemingly so.  The story plays out over decades so the people can get far enough apart in space to make the story interesting, but the communications allow them to stay in touch in a sort of internet-like way.  What this means is that trouble in one place can be shared with everyone everywhere, in real time.  Ideas can be shared, with action taken by those close enough to do something about it.  Maybe it is helping a sentient species out of an environmental problem, or how to thwart the evil intentions of a diabolical race of devils.  The connectivity of everything makes it all work.

Which brings me to this week's BQ.  In our modern global world where things are connected by images, video, and words, where we can see what is happening essentially everywhere as never before, people are connected in the same way.  In the electronic world we live in, is shutting down an aggressor by denying them access to bank accounts, the commercial world of buying and selling things, including foodstuffs they make and buy, enough?  Can we shut down an aggressor to the extent that the people  will put a stop to the war?  Can a corrupt government be stopped through isolation of this kind?

Could a wall of economic isolation put up around a nation be enough to defeat it?

Could denial of internet, banking, economic sanctions, travel, and so forth be enough to convince a dictator to stop his expansionistic plans?