U.S. goes all-in on sanctions

Any indications that Washington would be moderate with their use of economic sanctions is quickly vanishing, and in return much of the globe is rebelling against U.S. hegemony.
Let's start with Europe.

Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak and his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire on Friday discussed U.S. sanctions against Turkey and agreed to act together, the Turkish ministry said in a written statement.

Mostly this is symbolic, but its certainly unexpected.
If France is defying America, what might Germany do?

The US leadership has prepared a draft law on sanctions, which could prevent the completion of the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany. New sanctions can be introduced within a few weeks, The Wall Street Journal reports referring to current and former US officials.
...
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed at the meeting held on August 18 that the Nord Stream 2 project should be protected from attacks by third countries, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

Third countries = America.
Nord Stream 2 is already under construction. These sanctions won't stop it.

The most controversial of our sanctions involves Iran, and our allies in Asia are preparing to defy us, starting with India.

The US representatives stated on Thursday that Washington is ready to impose sanctions on all nations which continue to import oil from Iran. The list of penalized countries could also include China and India.

China is actually increasing it's oil imports from Iran, so that's a done deal.
China, India, Japan and South Korea together account for almost 65 percent of the oil that Iran exported in May. Japan will probably defer to the U.S., but South Korea may surprise everyone.

However, this past weekend, South Korea's embassy in Iran rejected media reports that the country had suspended oil purchases from Iran under pressure from the U.S.

Largely ignored is Pakistan's pivot toward Russia.

Alam added that Pakistan's powerful military appeared to have "had enough of America’s blackmailing, threats and blockage of sales."

Of course the big news all week is Trump's spat with our NATO ally, Turkey.

The Turkish economy will continue to need all the trade it can get and right now Qatar and Iran look like less burdensome partners. Russia and China are waiting in the wings too, according to Reva Goujon, the VP of Global Analysis at Stratfor. Turkey already has a defence cooperation agreement with Russia and China has Erdogan on board for its massive Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

This economic sanctions war appears to be headed toward a climax.
If Washington loses, then expect to see the rise of the Russia-China-Iran axis.
The U.S. maintains a current sanctions regimen against Russia, Iran, Turkey, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba. None of these sanctions have changed anyone's behavior.

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divineorder's picture

We just bought couple of class two ev bicycles. Company in WA said we were lucky they were raising their prices this week ‘ because sanctions.’

Heh. I think I will go with gouging.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

vtcc73's picture

figure out being the World’s Biggest Bully isn’t working any longer? Even the dullest of our exceptional citizens have to begin to feel something is very much not right with:

1. Threaten them.
2. Sanction them.
3. Bomb them.
4. Steal their shit.
5. Rinse and repeat.

Any minimally sensible people could see this intervention coming.

“Ya see Uncle Sam...you’re a complete dick and we might love ya but we ain’t taking it anymore. It’s time you stop this shit! Here’s how this is going to go.....and, no, you don’t have a choice.”

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"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."

@vtcc73 @vtcc73

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CB's picture

from US sanctions. By every single economic indicator, Russia is in much better financial shape than the US (as well as most of the other countries in the G7 let alone the emerging economies). One of the main reasons for the US sanctions on Russia was an attempt to slow down its economic growth. So far, they have failed miserably. Putin has used these lemons to make lemonade - lots and lots of lemonade. Russia is now self-sufficient in everything an industrial nation requires.

Why Russia will NOT fall victim to emerging markets financial crisis

The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris explain why, unlike the financial meltdown in Turkey, Russia is well equipped and properly prepared to weather the US sanctions storm... and may, in the end, come out of the latest emerging markets turmoil stronger and more independent from western petrodollar control than ever before.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPLdRRT5Htw]

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link

More than half – 55 percent – are against a second referendum, while 48 percent believed the political classes were making heavy weather of Brexit in the hope that the public changes its mind.
However, the poll says 62 percent say they have not changed their minds since the first vote.

The survey also suggests that more Remainers have changed their mind – 15 percent against Leavers at 11 percent.

If this was replicated in a second referendum, it would be equivalent to 2.4 million and 1.9 million respectively.

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CB's picture

for the imposition of more sanctions against Russia now in the House? This shiite is a de facto declaration of economic war against Russia if it gets passed.

Of course if you ever question the authenticity of the "findings" you will be told the information is classified.

S.3336 - Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act of 2018
...
TITLE III—Chemical weapons nonproliferation

SEC. 301. Short title.

This title may be cited as the “Chemical Weapons Nonproliferation Act of 2018”.

SEC. 302. Findings.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) The international norm against the use of chemical weapons has severely eroded since 2012. At least 4 actors between 2012 and the date of the enactment of this Act have used chemical weapons: Syria, North Korea, the Russian Federation, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq and Syria.

(2) On March 4, 2018, the Government of the Russian Federation knowingly used novichok, a lethal chemical agent, in an attempt to kill former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, in Salisbury, United Kingdom.
...

The country's lawmakers and Deep State are going berserk trying to corner Putin and Russia. Fortunately for the world, they continue to fail miserably.

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@CB from Caitlin Johnstone

Generally speaking, whenever you see people loudly and habitually advocating for the powerful side of a power discrepancy, they are showing you that they are servants of power. Their interest is not in truth, justice or compassion, but in helping power maintain itself. Being aware of this gives you a very useful tool for navigating a confusing media landscape that is immersed in propaganda, spin, and disinformation.

This applies across the board. When you see anyone advocating on behalf of the US empire against the latest Official Bad Guy Nation, when you see them advocating on behalf of the plutocrat-owned mass media machine against alternative media outlets, when you see them advocating on behalf of the Pentagon, the CIA and the Democratic Party against Julian Assange, when you see them advocating on behalf of fossil fuel companies against indigenous protesters, when you see them advocating on behalf of America’s increasingly militarized police force against unarmed black men, when you see them advocating on behalf of the wealthy against the poor, when you see them advocating on behalf of the status quo against activists and organizations pushing for change, they are giving you valuable information about themselves.

So watch them.

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CB's picture

@gjohnsit
Not only is she smart, she's wise.

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