Sanctions: For Thee, Not For Me (If 'Me' is a US-Based Business)
Bloomberg breathlessly reports that Lukoil North America, the US subsidiary of the sanctioned Russian oil giant, is now relying on two measly New Jersey banks to stay afloat. The framing here is critical: 'sanctions roil financing,' implying a swift, crippling blow. But what's truly being 'roiled' for Lukoil is the inconvenience of using smaller financial institutions, not an actual inability to
operate within the US. This isn't an example of sanctions working; it's an example of how the financial system finds a way. Sanctions are consistently presented as a moral triumph and an economic weapon, yet they rarely achieve their stated goal of regime change. Instead, they often hurt ordinary citizens, create new black markets, and, as in this case, simply shift transactions to less visible
corners of the same global financial network. One might wonder if the real objective is not to cripple, but merely to inconvenience, ensuring Western economies aren't *too* disrupted.