Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the U.S.-led Western sanctions have gone too far, encompassing trade, finance, energy, media, technology, aerospace, culture, art and sports. Even cats, dogs and trees from Russia are falling prey to sanctions.

Since the Crimean crisis in 2014, the U.S. and its allies started to impose economic sanctions on Russia. In addition, the U.S. government often enforces sanctions by weaponizing the dollar. The U.S. and its allies kicked Russia out of SWIFT as soon as the conflict erupted in Ukraine, not only hurting the economy of the sanctioned country, but also other economies and their people as well. But the U.S. frequent weaponization of its currency dominance will push others to develop their own payment mechanisms that will undermine the dollar's primacy in the long run. Once the United States loses its currency dominance, Uncle Sam will have shot himself in the foot.

The United States not only joined its allies in imposing sanctions on Russia, but also forced other countries to "take side." It seems that if one does not go against Russia, one is on the wrong side of history. But more than 140 of 190-plus UN member states didn't follow the U.S. in sanctioning Russia, which proves that for the U.S., the "right side" is nothing more than hegemonic rhetoric.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Cuba, Iran and Russia have all been victims of U.S. sanctions, and even the American media "hails" itself as the "sanctions superpower." As the global economy is closely interconnected, sanctions on Russia will ultimately hurt the global economy and financial markets, even resulting in a global supply chain crash for which millions of people will pay. If the United States were a misshapen giant, it would have one muscular arm for sanctions, due to frequent "exercise" in this area, in stark contrast with a feeble arm for development.

Sanctions should be neither tools nor goals. They are not an effective way to solve a conundrum. Only dialogue and negotiation can bring hard-won peace.

Credits: 

Scriptwriter: Yuan Xin

Chief editor: Ge Jing

Managing director: Mei Yan

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