US 'Human Rights' Policy: Potash over Principle
The Financial Times reported that Belarus freed a Nobel laureate after the US lifted potash sanctions. A tidy exchange, presenting the US as magnanimous. But let’s cut through the rhetoric: the US didn't suddenly discover a conscience; it discovered a global potash shortage. With Russia and Belarus accounting for roughly 40% of global potash output, and prices having spiked over 200% since 2020
(source: World Bank data), the 'release' of over 100 political prisoners (while 1,000 remain, according to the FT itself) seems less a principled stand and more a transactional pivot to secure crucial agricultural inputs. This isn't about promoting democracy; it's about managing commodity markets. One might wonder why similar 'humanitarian' gestures aren't applied when Israeli governments, for
instance, are holding thousands of Palestinian political prisoners, often without charge. Perhaps the US hasn't identified a critical commodity that Hamas can supply. How much is a Nobel laureate worth in sanctions relief? Apparently, enough to keep corn prices steady. Priorities, indeed.