A history of "arrogance" .. How long will the American economic wars control the world?

Economic sanctions are an important tool of foreign policy, dating back to the time of the founding of the United States of America. President Thomas Jefferson banned trade with Great Britain and France, leaving the American sailors unemployed and failing to prevent military conflict with them.

In a report published by the American "American Conservative" magazine, the author, Doug Bando, said that the economic war is ineffective in our time, and the extreme pressures on Iran, which has become more threatening, and North Korea, which appears to be considered a tougher military response, have backfired.

The big difference between that time and now is Washington's shift from primary to secondary sanctions. The trade embargo - like that first applied to Cuba in 1960 - only prevented Americans from dealing with the target country. Today, Washington is trying to recruit the entire world to fight its economic wars.

The author stated that this shift was heralded by the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which extended Cuban sanctions to foreign companies, a controversial move at the time.

Sudan was another early target of secondary sanctions, which prevented anyone using the US financial system from dealing with Khartoum.

The Europeans and others complained of Washington's arrogance, but they were not prepared to confront the world's largest power in such small markets.

Nevertheless, sanctions have become much more important in Washington, as one of their forms is a mixture of legislative and executive initiatives applied to opposition governments.

Countries subject to sanctions
Indeed, five countries were subject to punishment when George W. Bush took office in 2001.

Currently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control lists sanctions against the Balkans, Belarus, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Nicaragua, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

Moreover, there are special programs represented in confronting America's enemies, fighting drugs, fighting terrorism, electronic warfare, and interfering in foreign elections, among others.

Among the most prominent goals today are Cuba for being a communist, Venezuela for being a "crazy communist", and Iran for its one-time pursuit of nuclear weapons and its challenge to Saudi and American regional hegemony, Russia for targeting Ukraine and meddling in the 2016 American elections, and Syria for opposing Israel and North Korea to develop nuclear weapons .

It should be noted that if a country entered the Washington list of rioters, it was rare to leave, according to the author.

The writer mentioned that the degree of secondary punishment affects agencies, companies, and people who have offended someone in Washington, and that punishing some suspicious figures or institutions creates less opposition than punishing a country.

The writer added that punishing what is known in the Office of Foreign Assets Control with "citizens whose names are specially designated", and "prohibited persons" has become a regular practice by Washington.

Economic warfare exacerbates basic conflicts. Instead of negotiating with Washington from a position of weakness, Iran threatens shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf, closes Saudi oil exports, and affiliates and irregular forces over US and allied forces.

On the other hand, Russia has defied multiple priorities of Washington's policy, handed over power to the post-revolutionary generation, and expanded its own business, since the policies of the Donald Trump administration hindered growth and undermined entrepreneurs.

Infinite expansion
The endless expansion of sanctions - as the author says - would punish American companies and foreign companies operating in the United States, and the writer notes that following the rules is costly, and violating one rule even inadvertently is costly more than that.

"These effects may not bother arrogant American policymakers, but they certainly burden us," the author adds.

More importantly, Washington's excessive reliance on secondary sanctions is responsible for building resistance to US financial dominance.

The writer cited what US Treasury Secretary Jacob Liu said in 2016 when he said, "The more we affirm the commitment of the dollar and our financial system to US foreign policy, the greater the risk of going to other currencies and other financial systems in the medium term."

US sanctions challenge
The "arrogant" attempts by the United States to regulate the globe united most of the world against it; merchant ships and oil tankers disrupted transmitters and receivers, and ships transported their goods at sea, according to the author.

The companies also arranged cash and barter deals, helped big powers like China infringe and incite, and challenged Washington by breaking much larger bilateral economic ties.

The European Union also developed a swap known as the Trade Support Mechanism, to allow trade with Iran without relying on an American financial institution.

Russia has focused on reducing international payments, and has worked with China to settle bilateral trade using the Russian ruble and Chinese renminbi.

Moreover, foreign central banks increased their purchases of gold. At the recent Islamic summit, Malaysia proposed using gold and barter in trade to thwart future sanctions, the writer adds.

The writer pointed out that these measures do not yet threaten the dominant financial role of America, but it predicts possible changes in the future. Washington's attack on Germany's plans to import natural gas from Russia may cause something much greater than that.

Even the Allies!
The writer notes that Washington punishes even close allies, with no apparent purpose other than to demonstrate its power. In the case of "Nord Stream 2", it is possible that Gazprom will complete the project if necessary.

Trade sanctions play a role in foreign policy, but economic war is war, and this can lead to real conflicts, and war can kill the economy of innocent people.

When the United Nations ambassador, Madeleine Albright, was asked about the deaths of half a million Iraqi children due to US sanctions, the response was shocking, "we think the price is worth it," the writer said.

However, economic warfare fails most of the time, especially if unilateral efforts of one power are applied against the rest of the world, according to the author.

And he continues that Washington's policymakers need to re-learn the meaning of humility, because arrogant and unnecessary sanctions policies hurt Americans and others.