OP-ED: “U.S. Sanctions With Teeth,” by David Ignatius, Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 5-11 March 2007, p. 26.
Ohio State U. prof John Mueller has argued that sanctions have killed far more people in the 20th century than WMD ever did. Most of these deaths are never counted (or, if they are, they are quickly discounted as meaningless) because most involve the elderly or young children (no surprise, when you stress a society those who are weakness succumb first).
The Treasury’s new brand of “financial measures,” however, do seem like a breakthrough. They play upon globalization’s financial webs of connectivity, threatening disbarment to those institutions who do business with bad actors.
As Ignatius argues:
These new sanctions are toxic because they effectively limit a country’s access to the global ATM.
Also:
The new measures work thanks to the hidden power of globalization: Because all the circuits of the global financial system are inter-wired, the U.S. quarantine effectively extends to all major banks around the world.
Connectivity drives codes. Simple as that.
Good stuff to read. Nice piece by Ignatius.
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