I used to think berets were lame but I’ve officially had my mind changed

anti-thatcher-action joker-che che-smile

  • Infamousblt [any]@hexbear.net
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    9 months ago

    The west just can’t understand that sanctions don’t work when countries can just go trade with someone else. This is yet another fantastic example. The US won’t sell us shit? Okay we’ll buy it from their enemies instead.

    I hope the US sanctions the entire world.

    • tocopherol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 months ago

      I wrote a well cited essay in an English 101 class about how sanctions don’t work and often have negative results, I got a great grade and it seemed clear based on the evidence, but these mofos just can’t help but sanction. It must be useful in some way to the people doing it but what could be a personal benefit?

      • CarmineCatboy2 [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        9 months ago

        It must be useful in some way to the people doing it but what could be a personal benefit?

        Financial speculation likely plays a part. It might seem geopolitically insane that Europe traded cheap russian energy for expensive american/norwegian/russian but through third parties energy… but everyone who’s invested in American LNG is making a killing. And Europeans who own the privatized import businesses are also making a second killing too.

        That aside there just seems to be a culture of sanctions. The west is used to breaking weak nations by isolating them from western finance, capital and technology. By sheer inertia this keeps on going despite how a country like China can just keep on prospering, or how countries like Russia and India can more than make do as well. Or how all the new economic powers mean that countries like the ASS group just has options and people to talk to.

        Is western finance good at insurance? Probably. But it’s not like Mumbai, Shanghai or Singapore can’t do the same service.

      • kristina [she/her]@hexbear.net
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        9 months ago

        cutting off from a market suddenly is probably useful for insider trading, at least. just keep it under wraps and keep the info to yourself so you can get the juicy stocks

        like one of the biggest proponents of sanctioning iran is the cashew industry, too, and iran has a very large cashew industry, so it pushes a competitor out of the market. essentially protectionism with extra steps

    • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      It worked for a while when the hegemony was absolute or there was cold war ideology stuff for them to work with, but it turns out rigging the game only works as long as you’re the only game in town.

    • Maoo [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      Traditionally the West then targets you for destruction for becoming an ally of the enemy (i.e. trading with the only people that would trade with you).

          • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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            9 months ago

            I can’t think of one nation after being sanctioned then trading with another enemy nation and being bombed as a consequence of those actions. The coups and fascist militias happen regardless of who you trade with. If you can think of an historical example I’d like to hear it, in a non argumentative way. I’d like you to inform me. They have to have already been sanctioned and then their trading with a different enemy has direct violent consequence or its kinda just business as usual.

            • Maoo [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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              9 months ago

              Guatemala, basically the first example of the US flexing its new status as the global seat of capital, used this as one of its traps: place embargos on it, including weapons, in response to Arbenz doing SocDem things. Then Arbenz traded with the Soviets as they were the only major country to offer. The US used this as a major pretext for its campaign of painting Guatemala as a potential forward base for the Soviets and getting taken over by the reds. This campaign was part of its larger coup effort that included the use of US-trained death squads, genocide of the Mayan communities, and finally a bombing campaign to seal the deal. Lumumba had a similar experience, etc etc.

              Obviously there are no countries that have no other interactions with the US prior to getting sanctioned. Every country is a potential target, friend or foe, and friends get turned into foes at the drop of a hat. A country gets sanctioned because it’s already a target, the US already has some stated pretext and a few schemes it’s implementing.