As the only superpower in the world today, the United States pursues an aggressive unilateral diplomatically. The domineering United States often wields the big stick of sanctions to attack other countries. After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the Truman administration of the United States imposed comprehensive sanctions on North Korea: freezing North Korea's assets in the United States, banning American companies and individuals from investing in North Korea, and banning the export of "strategic materials" from weapons and high-tech products to food to North Korea... In 2010, North Korea claimed US$65 trillion in compensation for the losses caused to its economy by the United States for 60 years of continuous sanctions on the United States.
U.S. sanctions on North Korea are just a microcosm of a series of sanctions activities of the United States on other countries. Cuba , Iran , Venezuela , Syria , Russia and other countries have also been subject to US sanctions. Since 1962, the United States has imposed decades of all-round blockade sanctions on Cuba: from medical equipment to cement required for building cross-island expressways, from toothpaste and toothbrushes to aircraft cannons, from real economy to capital investment, are included in the blockade. As of April 2013, the direct economic losses caused to Cuba by the US blockade had reached US$1157.327 billion.
1979 Iran's Islamic Revolution overthrew the pro-American Pahlavi dynasty After successive US governments have adopted sanctions against the Iranian government and people. Since 2003, the Iranian nuclear issue has become an international focus, the United States has continued to increase its economic sanctions on Iran. The United States not only imposes sanctions on Iran itself, but also promotes the United Nations to pass a sanctions resolution on Iran. The US sanctions on Iran have caused a sharp decline in Iran's oil revenue and a sharp depreciation of the currency. After the Syrian conflict, the United States strictly prohibited all its own organizations from having any form of business dealings with Syria, while also freezing the assets of Syrian banks and other organizations.
Even if it is powerful, it cannot escape the fate of being sanctioned by the United States. After the Crimea incident in 2014, the United States and its allies launched all-round economic sanctions on Russia: in the first round of sanctions, 37 companies and individuals in Russia were included in the sanctions list by the US government. All trade between these companies and individuals and the West was cut off. The assets of these companies and individuals in Western countries have also been completely frozen. After Russia launched a special military operation against Ukraine in February this year, Western countries led by the United States began to increase sanctions on Russia.
Russia has cooperated with EU for many years and was stopped, and Russia's status in SWIFT international financial bank payment system was cancelled... After being subject to sanctions, Russia directly blacklisted countries and regions involved in sanctions. Russia announced that it will use rubles to repay related debts against these unfriendly countries and regions. If Western countries depreciate Russian ruble through sanctions, then Russia will suffer losses by using rubles to repay debts. At the same time, Russia also said it would use measures to restrict energy exports to counter Western countries.
In fact, as early as 2014, Russia faced sanctions from Western countries and its allies to freeze the assets of the United States and its allies in Russia. What we hear most in the news is often how the United States sanctions others, but Russia's actions actually prove that other countries can sanction the United States. The problem is that the United States and its allies do not have much assets in Russia, so Russia's economic countermeasures are more just to show its own attitude. So do you think that the only Russia in this world has fought back against the US sanctions?
In the past few decades, North Korea and the United States have actually been sanctioning each other. Iran, which is also sanctioned by the United States, has also announced reverse sanctions against the United States. But as soon as we look at international news, we talk about how the United States imposes sanctions on North Korea and Iran, but we rarely hear people talking about how North Korea and Iran impose reverse sanctions on the United States. This is because the sanctions imposed by North Korea and Iran on the United States are more just to show their unyielding attitude, but the so-called sanctions imposed by North Korea and Iran are actually difficult to have a substantial impact on the United States.
As the world's only superpower, the United States maintains world-class strength in all fields such as politics, economy, military, and science and technology. This means that as the only superpower in the world today, the United States can arbitrarily use political sanctions, economic sanctions, military sanctions and other means against small and medium-sized countries. Other countries can only use their advantages in certain areas to impose reverse sanctions on the United States. Even the strong Russia's international status mainly comes from its political and military influence, but Russia's economic status in the international market is actually far less than that of the United States.
July 1, 1944 Economic envoys from 44 countries or governments held a United Nations monetary and financial conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA. It was this meeting that determined the International Monetary System after in World War II— Bretton Woods System . Under this system, the US dollar is directly pegged to gold, and other currencies in the world are pegged to the US dollar. The US dollar is the settlement currency for international transactions, thus establishing the hegemony of the US dollar in the world economic structure. After the outbreak of the oil crisis in the 1970s, the United States established a US dollar oil trading system in a timely manner. The hegemony of the US dollar in international trade has continued to this day.
Nowadays, a very important means for the United States to sanction other countries is to use the hegemony of the US dollar to freeze the property of relevant countries. Originally, the United States could freeze the assets of other countries in the United States, so other countries could also freeze the assets of the United States in their own countries. But since trade between countries in the world today uses the US dollar as settlement currency, the role of the United States in using the US dollar to sanction any country is very huge. On the other hand, countries that do not have international financial hegemony will have relatively limited impact on the United States' reverse sanctions.
If the United States and Russia adopt the method of freezing each other's assets, then it is obvious that the party that suffers greater losses must be Russia, because the United States does not have much assets in Russia. Energy is a powerful weapon in Russia's hands, but the energy card is more effective for the European allies of the United States, but the actual impact it can have on the United States itself is limited. The United States is a resource-rich major country like Russia, and the United States has good relations with major energy powers such as Saudi Arabia . The United States' dependence on Russian energy is actually not as large as that of European countries.
If Russia wants to sanction the United States by stumbling on energy, it will obviously not have much substantial effect. Russia has the nuclear weapon that the United States fears, but the United States is also a country with nuclear weapons. Under this strategic balance, no one dares to use nuclear weapons first if they are not forced to go. Although Russia is not inferior to the United States in terms of political and military influence, it is difficult for Russia to sanction the United States through economic, diplomatic and other means. In other words, the United States has more cards than Russia in the matter of mutual sanctions.
Since even a country like Russia with a vast territory, rich resources and strong military power does not have as many cards as the United States, how many trump cards can small countries like North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Syria, and Venezuela have? The gap in strength makes it difficult for other countries to reverse sanctions against the United States to achieve the effect of the United States sanctions against other countries. The United States has used its voice in international affairs to build a huge ally system. In fact, the United States usually imposes sanctions on other countries not alone, but unites a group of allies to jointly isolate their strategic opponents.
The United States has the core technological advantages of the global industry and the hegemony of the dollar, so the United States is difficult for almost any country to bypass in today's international system. The United States' allies cover almost all major developed countries in the world. Being blocked by these countries almost means leaving the international community. These countries have a condescending advantage in the global industrial chain. Not all countries have the ability to launch satellite instead of GPS navigation , and not everyone can create chips to replace Intel .If a country wants to obtain the lithography machine as an ally of the United States, it will have to be subject to the United States to a considerable extent.
The reason why the United States can sanction other countries comes from its strong strength, so the fundamental way to deal with US sanctions is to make its country stronger. What I call strength includes the strength of the military and national defense field, but it is not limited to the strength of the military and national defense field. At the same time, it is necessary to achieve comprehensive strength in all fields of economy, science and technology, and culture. It is precisely because the United States can impose comprehensive sanctions on other countries in multiple fields that to avoid being sanctioned by the United States, it is ultimately necessary to have the ability to deal with US sanctions in all aspects. This is why we emphasize the need to take core technologies into our own hands.
The reason why the United States can sanction other countries is not only the advantage of core technology, but also the advantage of mastering the hegemony of the US dollar. Now some countries are trying to "de-dollarize" in order to break the hegemony of the US dollar. Countries also need to work hard to expand their own markets: Countries should vigorously develop their economies and improve the living standards of the people, thereby promoting and stimulating domestic market demand. In this way, even if the loss of some international markets is caused by the US sanctions, it will not lead to a complete collapse of its own economic system. The vast majority of developing countries are also an effective means to deal with sanctions while promoting domestic demand.
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