The attitude of security council members toward sanctions has been fraught with contradictions mixed, at times, with a strong dose of reluctance. Looking at the employment of UN sanctions over the years across cases, however, one is struck by how much has been achieved, both in terms of their impact and in terms of the development of council working methods despite the undercurrent of political uneasiness and discord that has almost always accompanied this issue within the council. This article outlines the significant changes made to the design of sanctions regimes by the council over the years and the processes and methods associated with the regimes in order to present a clearer and more accurate assessment of the council’s efforts to improve its working methods and procedures vis-à-vis sanctions.