Government asset freezes immunized owners against threats against their relatives.

Evidence

It was reported unofficially during the Korean War that when the Treasury Department blocked Communist Chinese financial assets, it also knowingly blocked some non-Communist assets as a means of immunizing the owners against extortionate threats against their relatives still in China. Quite likely, for owners located in the United States, the very penalties on transfer of funds to Communist China enhanced their capacity to resist extortion. — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 359

Categorization

• XREF: A striking real-world example of the same commitment mechanics the reader sees in private-enforcement markets.