As the Libyans have experienced and the Syrians still experience Western sanctions come sooner and sooner and are every time better refined to hurt a country. But I wonder about the larger picture.
On the one side there is the issue of globalization. Free trade only works when you can trust that the other side will always deliver. Syria, that had in the last decade done a lot to open its economy is a good example. Now it is paying a price for that openness. I am sure that China and all the other countries that might one day find themselves to be America's newest favorite hate object have taken notice and will try to take precautions. This will hamper further globalization and may well reduce it.
While the Far East has taken over much of our industries finance is still very much a Western monopoly. But the increasing use of financial sanctions - now both against Iran and Syria - must make the Chinese wonder. I expect them to take steps to lessen Western control of international banking.
1 comment:
The US is too quick to use sanctions and does so far too easily. It is often a substitute for a more serious approach. But the basic problem is that the US seeks to manage or influence events far above its ability to do so well. I have become more and more an isolationist. We need to focus on our own house and let the rest of the world do things in their own way. Defend, yes. Offend, no.
http://outsidewalls.blogspot.com/2011/12/are-we-headed-for-war-with-iran.html
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