My Take | How US-led sanctions destroy economies, impoverish people and cause needless deaths
- A study shows the stark costs of Western sanctions on the populations of targeted countries, and that they almost never achieve their aims
The Group of Seven nations are reportedly ready to announce joint measures to counter the “economic coercion” of an unnamed country. Well, we all know which country that is. The hypocrisy is just too glaringly obvious to let pass. It’s like a mafia don and his lieutenants calling out a petty thief for being a criminal. And we all know who that mafia boss is.
Today, a staggering 27 per cent of countries are subjected to sanctions of varying intensity. Since collectively they account for 29 per cent of world GDP, the sanctions not only impoverish populations but cause a significant drag on the global economy.
“In light of their grave humanitarian toll on the peoples of those countries, and the significant logistical challenges that the resulting increase in migration is causing for federal, state, and local authorities, we urge you to act swiftly to lift the failed and indiscriminate economic sanctions … and engage in a broader review of pre-existing sanctions policies that your administration inherited, which exacerbate hardship for innocent civilians and serve as additional push-factors for migration.”
Many of these migrants are victimised thrice over – by their own repressive or irresponsible government, by US sanctions, and by an abusive and dysfunctional US immigration screening system. What is worse for Washington is that US-sponsored sanctions almost never work, at least so far as their ostensible rationale is concerned – galvanising the domestic opposition and populace against the targeted government for regime change. Often, the targeted leadership just rouses up anti-US or nationalist sentiments, thereby cementing their political hold.
But if the unstated purpose is to isolate a regime and destroy its economy to make sure social-democratic reforms fail – such as nationalisation of foreign assets, land and wealth redistribution and otherwise penalising Western/US corporate interests – then arguably, sanctions sometimes work.