Preoccupied with arming Kyiv and sanctioning Russia for invading Ukraine on February 24th, the US and the Western powers have ignored the plight of countries and peoples afflicted with US-driven sanctions which undermine their economies, destroy livelihoods and amount to collective punishment, which has been a war crime since 1929 and was reinforced by the Fourth Geneva Convention in 1949.

Moscow’s war on Ukraine has made Russia the most sanctioned-country in the world with more than 5,580 separate sanctions. While the imposition of US and European sanctions has hit the oligarchs hard and deprived Russian consumers of Western imports, McDonalds and Starbucks, exports continue and the Russian currency, the ruble, has risen in value vis-a-vis the US dollar. Instead of hitting Russia hard, sanctions have had instant global blowback amounting to collective punishment of hundreds of millions of people whether rich, middle class, or poor.

Since harvests and deliveries have faltered, the supplies of grain from both Russia and Ukraine and sunflower oil from Ukraine have been reduced dramatically, leading to shortages and soaring prices in countries where populations are living from hand-to-mouth. Efforts by Western European powers to reduce dependence on Russia have boosted prices of oil and natural gas and fuelled inflation across the world, including in the US which does not rely on Russian energy imports.

The authors of anti-Moscow sanctions did not, apparently, take in to account that Russia is the largest provider of natural gas and the second largest exporter oil crude oil after Saudi Arabia. Russia is also the world’s largest grain exporter, while Ukraine is fifth. Russia exports 17 per cent of the world’s wheat, Ukraine 10 per cent.

The latter’s exports are down by 60 per cent. Wheat for bread is in short supply in Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria in this region as well as across Africa. Finally, Russia is the world’s largest exporter of potash fertilizer. Since March, its price has risen by 50 per cent. Russia’s key customer, Brazil, has ignored sanctions on fertilizer while US farmers are fretting over shortage.

While the global blowback from sanctions against Russia is a new phenomenon, sanctions targeting countries, companies, organisations and individuals have been in large-scale use since World War I and contributed to the rise of Hitler in Germany and World War II.

David Uren writing in the June 2022 issue of The Strategist pointed out: “The use of sanctions has accelerated over the past 15 years. From 1990 through to 2005, between 200 and 250 sanctions regimes (were) in place around the world, about a third of which were levied by the US.

The US share rose to almost 50% under the Trump administration, with the total numbers in force peaking at 550.”

While sanctions can secure the objectives of sanctioning governments in some cases, in others, sanctions fail and create continuing misery for the citizens of targeted countries.

Uren warned: “In practice, sanctions often become a form of long-lasting punishment short of military action with no clear remedial agenda or timetable for review.”

Afghanistan has become the latest example to confront US and allied policymakers who are under pressure to find a way to sanction the ruling Taliban without starving the population. The seizure by the US of $7 billion in central bank reserves and Western imposition of sanctions are meant to force the Taliban to respect Afghan human rights and end persecution of minorities and women. Instead, the UN reports that 95 per cent of Afghans are food insecure and are not getting enough food on a daily basis, with families headed by women, most of whom are confined to their homes, in the worst situation. Last week’s earthquake which devastated a remote rural district near the Pakistan border has reminded the world that the situation in this country is critical. Afghanistan is a major example of the crime of collective punishment.

Despite the assessment of the dire situation of Afghans, the UN has estimated that Syrians top the list of the ten most food insecure people on the face of the earth. While their plight stems, partly, from more than a decade of war, drought has seriously reduced farm output and sanctions have prevented the government from purchasing essential fuel, foodstuffs and medical supplies and reconstructing homes, manufacturing plant, businesses, and infrastructure. The US remains adamant that sanctions must remain until the government, headed by Dr. Bashar Al Assad, capitulates to the Western demand to reach an accommodation with expatriate opposition groups which have no support within the country.

Iran was the second most sanctioned country after North Korea before Russia was propelled to the top of the list. Iran has been sanctioned by Washington since 1979 when its ally the shah was ousted and Iranian university students took over the US embassy in Tehran and held staff for 444 days. Since then, Iran has been subjected to differing levels of US and international sanctions, which have shrunk Iran’s economy, deprived its citizens of medicine, food, and other essential items and prevented Tehran, the world’s fourth oil producer, from exporting oil, its main source of foreign currency.

The US has maintained both primary and secondary sanctions — to be imposed on foreign governments, firms, banks and individuals doing business with Iran — even after signing the 2015 agreement limiting Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions. After Donald Trump withdrew from this accord in 2018, he slapped 1,500 sanctions on Iran. His successor President Joe Biden has maintained these sanctions and added more although his administration had pledged to re-enter the agreement if Iran returns to compliance. For months they have been squab- ling over conditions. This has created uncertainty and tension and Iran, in retaliation, has increased uranium enrichment from 3.67 to 60 per cent, exceeded permitted stockpiles and curbed UN monitoring of its nuclear programme.

Biden’s policy became inexplicable after Russia invaded Ukraine since Iran and heavily sanctioned Venezuela are two oil producers with enough spare capacity to compensate for reductions in Russian exports. Sanctions are not only a crime against humanity but also undermine US national interests.