Saturday, November 23

Sanctions

Sanctions are a key aspect of global diplomacy.  They reveal international relations through a concrete lens. It’s a primary tool for policymakers to implement foreign policy decisions. It has a real-world impact on finance, trade, and investments. A key question is, do they work to implement change or influence another country’s decisions? We look at both international and unilateral sanctions. This topic overlaps with global diplomacy and touches on areas of banking and global finance.

Kid Gloves Come Off At US-China Meeting
22Mar By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Global Trade, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Sanctions, Types of News: Analysis

Kid Gloves Come Off At US-China Meeting

March 22, 2021--The kid-gloves came off at the first in-person meeting between the United States and China under the new U.S. administration. In a sign that tensions between the world's two largest economies are rising, the diplomats exchanged political punches from the beginning. They met first in front of cameras at the beginning of two-day strategic dialogue in Anchorage, Alaska. Typically, televised remarks might be a brief exchange of niceties. But , this exchange was anything but typical. It wasn't brief. And it wasn't polite. In fact, the opening remarks turned into an extended exchange of insults and condemnations between the countries' top diplomats. The United States launched the first blows. U.S. Cites Concerns on Hong Kong, Human Rights and Coercion U.S. Secr...
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27Feb By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Sanctions

U.S. Provides Sanctions Waiver for Humanitarian Aid to Iran

Feb. 27, 2020--The U.S. Treasury Department published a license granting exceptions to its sanctions regime against Iran for shippers of humanitarian supplies, such as food, medicine and medical equipment. The Swiss government launched the new payment channel late last month as a pilot program in cooperation with the U.S. government. Today's action provides the legal framework for that channel Medical shortages started in Iran after the United States pulled out of the nuclear deal and started new sanctions against Iran. Although the sanctions had exempted medical supplies, trade was disrupted due to concern by traders about getting caught up in the sanctions. According to AFP News Agency, "This in turn has worsened the acute shortage of medicines and led to skyrocketing prices, agai...
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Iran Reacts with Defiance to New U.S. Deterrence Strategy
17Jan By Patti MohrNo Comments
Middle East, Sanctions, Types of News: Analysis

Iran Reacts with Defiance to New U.S. Deterrence Strategy

Jan. 17, 2020-Immediate tensions between the United States and Iran subsided since the two country's attacks and counter-attacks in Iraq earlier this month. While war between the two countries appears less imminent, the path forward points to either inevitable conflict or backdoor diplomacy. Today, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei conducted a rare Friday speech in which he condemned the United States and defended his country's missile attacks against U.S. military bases in Iraq. The strikes inadvertently downed a Ukrainian passenger plane. The United States, meanwhile, intensified its sanctions against Iran, adding Iranian military and political officials and companies trading in Iran's metals industry to its already-large list of sanctioned individuals and entities. ...
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8Jan By Patti MohrNo Comments
Energy Policy, Oil & Gas, Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

‘We Do Not Need Middle East Oil,’ Trump Says

January 8, 2020-As he addressed the nation and the world at the height of an escalating crisis between Iran and the United States, President Donald Trump emphasized American strength in military capabilities, economic growth and natural resources in a sign he is not backing down from the possibility of war with archrival Iran. Trump called on signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran to abandon the agreement, asked the NATO alliance to take a stronger role in the Middle East, and announced new economic sanctions on Iran. Trump showed no sign of de-escalating the conflict with Iran. He said Iranians chanted "death to America" even as the United States signed onto the 2015 nuclear deal and fomented conflicts in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. Furthermore, he reinforced his decisio...
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Former Amb. in Impeachment Proceedings Warns of ‘Hollowing Out’ of U.S. Diplomacy
15Nov By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Sanctions

Former Amb. in Impeachment Proceedings Warns of ‘Hollowing Out’ of U.S. Diplomacy

November 15, 2019--In the second day of impeachment live televised hearings in the U.S. House of Representative, Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, warned of a "hollowing out of the State Department" that weakens U.S. diplomats abroad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvPeE-rSQZ4 Ms. Yovanovitch said she lost her position as the ambassador to Ukraine after foreign and private interests used "unofficial back channels" to convince President Trump to remove her. Ukraine: Caught Between Russia and the West Yovanovitch also said Ukraine is "a battleground for great power competition, with a hot war for the control of the territory and a hybrid war to control Ukraine's leadership."
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Seized North Korean Cargo Ship Sold for Scrap Metal
22Oct By Patti MohrNo Comments
Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

Seized North Korean Cargo Ship Sold for Scrap Metal

October 22, 2019-A U.S. court made an order of forfeiture for a cargo vessel named "Wise Honest" that had shipped coal and machinery for North Korea in violation of U.S. and international sanctions. The U.S. Justice Department announced the decision yesterday, saying that it effectively ends the ship's "career as one of North Korea’s largest sanctions-busting vessels.” A Ship's Story In April, foreign maritime authorities intercepted and seized the ship. In May, DOJ Attorneys John Demers and Geoffrey Berman filed a civil forfeiture complaint in a U.S. court against the 17,061-ton, single-hull bulk carrier ship. According to a DOJ statement, it was the first-ever seizure of a ship evading sanctions. The Korea Songi Shipping Company had used the ship to export North Korean coal ...
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U.S. Issues Sanctions Against Two Turkish Ministries, Three Officials
15Oct By Patti MohrNo Comments
Sanctions

U.S. Issues Sanctions Against Two Turkish Ministries, Three Officials

October 15, 2019-The U.S. Treasury Department issued economic sanctions against two Turkish ministries and three senior government officials on Monday, blocking them from international financial institutions that trade with the United States. The ministries include the National Defense and the Energy and Natural Resources Department. The officials include the ministers of those departments: Hulusi Akar, Suleyman Soylu, and Fatih Donmez. “The United States is holding the Turkish Government accountable for escalating violence by Turkish forces, endangering innocent civilians, and destabilizing the region,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a release. The level of sanctions appear to be moderate. According to an Associated Press reporter David McHugh, the sanctions ...
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U.S. Preps Sanctions Against Turkey in Wake of Military Incursion in Syria
14Oct By Patti MohrNo Comments
Geopolitics, Middle East, Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

U.S. Preps Sanctions Against Turkey in Wake of Military Incursion in Syria

October 14, 2019-As Turkey continued its military operation into northern Syria on Monday, U.S. lawmakers prepared to impose economic sanctions against current and former Turkish government officials contributing to the "destabilizing actions." While U.S. troops moved out of Syria, U.S. leaders prepared an economic response. In a published statement released on Twitter, U.S. President Donald Trump said he is preparing an executive order to impose the sanctions against "those who may be involved in serious human rights abuses, obstructing a ceasefire, preventing displaced persons from returning home, forcibly repatriating refugees, or threatening the peace, security, or stability in Syria." Aside from sanctions against individuals, further actions could include raising tariffs on s...
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U.S. Adds Maduro’s Son to Sanctions Blacklist
29Jun By Patti MohrNo Comments
Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

U.S. Adds Maduro’s Son to Sanctions Blacklist

June 28, 2019--The U.S. government added the son of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro Moros to its sanction's list, blocking all his property that are in the United States or in possession or control of U.S. persons. In its release, Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said it is targeting Nicolas "Nicolasito" Ernesto Maduro because he is "a current or former official of the Government of Venezuela," and the office would continue to target regime insiders. "Maduro’s regime was built on fraudulent elections, and his inner circle lives in luxury off the proceeds of corruption while the Venezuelan people suffer," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a release. "Maduro relies on his son Nicolasito and others close to his authoritarian regime to maintain a stranglehold on...
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U.S., India Must ‘Try Harder’ to Negotiate Trade Tensions, India’s Top Diplomat Says
26Jun By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Global Trade, Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

U.S., India Must ‘Try Harder’ to Negotiate Trade Tensions, India’s Top Diplomat Says

June 26, 2019--Despite a growing economic relationship between the United States and India, high-level meetings today between the nations' top diplomats reveal strained relations due to a tougher trade environment and differing diplomatic views on U.S. sanctions against Iran and Russia. Ahead of this week's G20 meeting in Japan and amid growing tensions with Iran, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to India and the Middle East this week to garner support. In India, Pompeo met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. While economic relations between the two countries are growing, it appears that geopolitical differences are also rising. 'Try Harder' on Trade Relations Trade between India and the United States on goo...
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