PREFACE

Economic sanctions. Heralded by the USA as the cure to evil governments the world over, and happily embraced by the West. But as the war in Ukraine continues, seemingly unhampered by economic sanctions, I had to ask myself: who do economic sanctions really hurt? The answer seems to be the same no matter towards whom they are directed: innocent civilians. From North Korea to Iran to Cuba, the governments have not gone anywhere, but the civilians are suffering.

NORTH KOREA

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a tiny state that administers roughly half of the Korean Peninsula. So why does anybody care to sanction it? The answer is simple: nuclear weapons. The DPRK possesses the ability to destroy the United States of America, and they are not exactly quiet about it. As a so-called "rogue state", they have been heavily sanctioned because of their nuclear program. Has that stopped them? Absolutely not. In fact, they are currently developing a new generation of nuclear missile. That does not mean that the sanctions have had no effect, however. They have had plenty of effect, but only on the civilian population. Nearly half of the population is malnourished, and over half of the population lives in absolute poverty. The same government is in power, and the same nuclear weapons program remains ongoing; it is the civilians who are forced to endure the consequences.

IRAN

Iran is a country right in the middle of Asia, governed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the US government wants it gone. In order to understand why, a brief history lesson is in order. Keep in mind that I have glossed over quite a bit of context in the name of brevity.

In 1953, the US, along with the UK, overthrew the Iranian government headed by Mohammad Mosaddegh, putting in his place Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, known simply as "The Shah". The US loved him because he played by their rules, but the people did not, and overthrew his government during the Islamic Revolution of 1979. This led to the Iranian hostage crisis, in which 53 US diplomats and citizens were taken hostage for 444 days, before being released. To this day, the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran do not maintain official diplomatic relations.

With the history lesson out of the way, it is once again time to discuss sanctions. Why sanction the Islamic Republic of Iran? The most common reason, as per the US Department of State's website, appears to be human rights violations. Human rights violations are troubling, of course, but from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay, the US doesn't exactly have the moral high ground in that regard.

The government continues to act undeterred, so it is clear that the sanctions have had little, if any, effect on them. As for the citizens, however, it is a different story. Iranian citizens have been deeply affected by sanctions-related medicine shortages. The Islamic Republic of Iran remains in power, essentially unchanged, and it is the civilians who bear the brunt of the results of the sanctions.

CUBA

Cuba. A peaceful island nation whose trademark export is doctors, and who has not posed a threat to anyone since the end of the Cuban missile crisis. The US, however, is deathly afraid of the Republic of Cuba. Why? The answer is simple: it is headed by the Communist Party of Cuba. The United States of America maintains a broad trade embargo towards the Republic of Cuba. The actual reasons for this (as of late), as per the US Department of State's website, all seem to be "violence against peaceful protestors". Such actions are troubling, of course, but it takes only a cursory glance at the law enforcement response to the George Floyd protests in the US to establish that the US, once again, does not have the right to be an authority on such matters.

Though the US embargo continues to harm the people of Cuba, it remains firmly in place. It remains so despite the fact that the rest of the world clearly understands that the embargo does nothing but harm. Once again, sanctions have failed to do any good.

CONCLUSION

The result of sanctions is clear: they only hurt civilians. It is as simple as that. The world must work together in order to overcome our differences, not attempt to punish each other for them.