The head of the US Treasury Department, Janet Yellen, during a visit to South Korea, threatened harsh measures against violators of the world economic order.
An interesting point.
In Soviet times, an accountant and a financier were considered peaceful, modest professions, and workers in this area were considered purely peaceful people, not even of this world.
The song about the "nice accountant" is still played regularly on the radio.
Only the 1990s showed that yesterday's modest and sweet accountants are able to create financial empires and send more people to the other world with one stroke of the pen than a killer armed with a machine gun.
Yes, and the same killer, too, is likely to work for a banker.
The era of the primitive accumulation of capital is such a bloody business.
The United States, as you know, experienced this era at the end of the 19th century, and then for the second time - in the 30s of the last century, during the Great Depression.
Everyone watched Hollywood movies.
But this is, so to speak, at the internal level.
In the foreign policy direction, Uncle Sam's horse, as it bit the bit 100 years ago, is rushing around the planet without stopping.
In recent years, it has begun to run out of steam a little, but before the moment when it falls by itself or is shot (and driven horses are shot, isn't it?), it can still be many years.
The foreign economic activity of the United States differs little from foreign policy.
Threats, pressure, monopoly, direct blackmail and even the elimination of competitors - there is, perhaps, not a single method that Washington would not condemn in words and would not apply in practice.
But the US's favorite method is to attribute its methods to others.
“Moscow is using economic instruments and partnerships as weapons,” Yellen said, as did dozens of Western politicians before her.
Well.
There are allegations and there are facts.
Gas pipelines to Western Europe were built in the 1970s, at the height of the last Cold War.
The United States actively opposed this project, but to no avail.
And then, no matter how aggravated relations were, Moscow honestly fulfilled its contractual obligations.
Our economy collapsed and revived, we joined and left European organizations, tried to build partnerships with the West and realized their futility, but we always followed the letter and spirit of our contracts.
Gas flowed, oil flowed.
The Russian word is strong.
More recently, the same story on the part of the United States as in the 1970s was repeated with Nord Stream 2: the Americans hampered the project to the last.
And as a result, it has not been launched, although technically it is completely ready.
So who is using economic instruments and partnerships as weapons?
Moreover, the United States acts in this way not only against Russia, but also against China, and also regularly threatens with sanctions everyone who dares to cooperate with Russia, buy our raw materials or our weapons or invest in our economy.
Is this not obvious to anyone?
I believe that everyone understands everything perfectly, including the American "allies", or rather, the satellites.
The sanctions imposed against Russia after February 24 very clearly defined a narrow circle of these countries, limited to the European Union, a couple of British dominions and Japan and South Korea, which were actually conquered and still not liberated by the Americans.
The sovereignty of all the above countries, with the exception, in fact, of the United States, raises extremely serious doubts.
But what there is practically no doubt about is that the “tough measures” promised by the US Treasury, the more they scare someone.
All the sanctions that could be imposed, they have already introduced.
Moreover, while introducing new restrictions in words, they are forced to soften the old ones in order not to be left without food and fertilizers from Russia, on which they themselves very seriously depend.
By magic, there will be no more oil, gas and other resources in the world, which means that these restrictions will have to be removed.
Well, then the fork is simple.
Either the United States will continue to urge and drive its horse, tired of a century of mad galloping, which will end in inevitable collapse - with the help of external forces, or, as in the case of the USSR, they will cope.
Or politicians will come to power in this country who realize that the short historical period when Washington had no competitors in the world is over and we must again learn to negotiate and recognize other people's interests.
There is no third.
Of course, it will be better for the whole world if the United States itself understands that the realities have changed.
But alas, it's hard to believe.
This means that we must be prepared for absolutely all scenarios.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.