Blog for article 2

This article is called You’re Sanctioned from the Economist.

The article then explains how sanctions have been used by the USA to combat its enemies. One target of the sanctions has been Iran, and Donald Trump’s sanctions there have led to a massive dip in their economy and a huge depreciation of their currency. However, the economic suffering has not brough about political change, and haven’t stopped Iran supporting terrorist groups. They also haven’t stopped the Syrian Dictator worsening his awful human rights record. The article then states why sanctions are continuing to be used: they are tools that are bloodless and inexpensive. The article then gives an example of how they can work: sanctions on an aluminium firm in Russia has forced an oligarch to release control of the company.

Overall, the article is saying that while Donald Trump’s sanctions have worked in creating economic problems and can be effective on the small scale, they haven’t worked on a national scale. The article also critises Trump’s fariness in who he gives the sancitons to. Some of the USA’s allies like Egypt arguably meet the criteria to be sanctioned, but they are not. The same goes for Turkey. Sanctions also don’t work when countries like China continue to do business with the sanctioned countries. If they do not follow the USA’s suit, they just take up all the goods from a country that the USA would normally take. Furthermore, when a group gets its income from extortion and crime, and doesn’t invest in Wall Street, the USA can’t affect it(eg the Houthis controlling Yemen).

The most important opposition against the sanctions that the article mentions is the fact that they actually affect the innocent and prevent rebuilds of countries. Assad(syrian dictator) says that he can’t create a functional economy because the USA won’t stop punishing them. However, the article shows the disagreement with this. Assad has destroyed his own country and removing sanctions won’t stop him from being a cruel dictator with an awful human rights record. The supporters of the sanctions believe they need more time to work, but the article ends by saying that they can’t be the only tool used against foreign threats.