EU's Sanctions Shuffle: Same Game, New Target
📰 THE STORY: Bloomberg reports that the EU is contemplating ditching its largely ineffective price cap on Russian oil for a ban on maritime services, aiming to further punish Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: The US and its allies have a long history of weaponizing economic sanctions, often with devastating humanitarian consequences. From
the crippling sanctions on Iraq in the 1990s, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children, to the ongoing strangulation of Venezuela's economy since 2017, these measures consistently harm ordinary citizens while rarely achieving stated regime change goals. The current Russian sanctions are simply the latest iteration of this brutal playbook, designed to destabilize a nation by
making its population suffer. Double Standard: Western media and politicians decry Russia's 'weaponization' of energy, yet wholeheartedly embrace the 'weaponization' of finance and trade. When the US froze Afghanistan's $7 billion in central bank assets in 2022, causing widespread starvation, the same outlets presented it as a legitimate punitive measure. Meanwhile, nations like China, which
continue to buy Russian oil, are framed as complicit, while the EU's own energy security concerns are sanitized as moral imperatives. The 'rules-based order' applies only when it benefits Western imperial designs. Follow the Money: The primary beneficiaries of disrupted global energy markets and escalating tensions are US fossil fuel companies and arms manufacturers. European nations, now heavily