Since last year, Western leaders have bombastically proclaimed their plans to “punish” and “weaken” Russia for its invasion into Ukraine, even threatening to “isolate” it from the global community. This included measures from sanctions against everything and everyone Russian, to the so-called “financial nuclear bomb” of kicking Russia out of the SWIFT international payments system. However, far from bringing Russia to its knees, these and other actions have increasingly backfired, catching many with their proverbial pants down.
In the last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers have both described this, with Yellen noting that Western sanctions “could undermine the hegemony of the dollar,” and Summers saying that “it’s looking a bit lonely” on our side of history. The latest one to admit to this fact is European Central Bank President Christine LaGarde, who said on Monday that “we are witnessing a fragmentation of the global economy into competing blocs,” and that many countries might be compelled away from the dollar-based system “because of the use of financial sanctions in the past decade.”
The solution to this is simple: End the sanctions! Not only are these sanctions backfiring—and hurting Western countries more than their intended targets—but they are wreaking havoc on developing countries around the world which are often struggling to get even the basics of life such as food and fuel. The use of economic sanctions is immoral, and is only a demonstration that the nation which applies them is morally and politically bankrupt.
The April 2023 IMF World Economic Outlook outlined the key areas of growth worldwide over the next five years. Soaring to the top of the list was China, with India in second place. The report further found that the BRICS countries will contribute more economic growth than the G7 countries. Despite this, the G7 Foreign Ministers, having just finished their summit in Japan Tuesday, focused their final joint statement on condemning both Russia and China! The Biden Administration is also planning a new executive order aimed at “limiting American investments in China,” to follow on the growing drumbeat for decoupling and the murky, anti-China RESTRICT Act.
In contrast to this was the Schiller Institute’s conference last weekend, which elaborated on the way out of this crisis. As Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche said at the end of the first panel:
“So, since there is no solution within this present configuration and system, we have to think in terms of catapulting the world into a new paradigm, and that requires, in my view, that we move very quickly to educate the people in Europe, in the United States, that China is not the enemy, Russia is not the enemy, the Global South is not the enemy, and that what the mass media are trying to portray right now is war propaganda. It should not be accepted. And I think we have to catalyze a movement—a worldwide movement of world citizens, who basically say ‘we demand a new paradigm whereby the interest of the One Humanity is put first.’
“And that is why I think such a conference on a new security and development architecture—or many conferences—may be conducted by the BRICS, may be conducted by a group of nations, some other combination, maybe some think tanks, maybe some universities, but I think we need to engage the world public [on] what should we do to get out of this incredibly dangerous situation, how can mankind give itself an order which allows our survival, our cooperation as sovereign nations. And that debate is lacking right now—at least in the Global North it has been completely suppressed.”
The pathway towards a prosperous and beautiful future is there, but we must mobilize ourselves to make it a reality. Don’t underestimate how far advanced the transformation taking place in the world is, and catch yourself “waiting to see.” Instead, be an organizer, and create the future.
