Multipolarity is a more dangerous world, as we have seen Russia asserts itself at the expense of Ukraine.
The US is the closest thing we have to a monopole these days and I'm sure it's sweet for some and very bitter for others.
Really quite ridiculous that there are sanctions on something like 1/3 of the world.
* authority to prohibit U.S. citizens from engaging in financial transactions with the individuals, entities, or governments on the list, except by license from the U.S. government
* requiring the United States to oppose loans by the World Bank and other international financial institutions,
* diplomatic immunity waived, to allow families of terrorism victims to file for civil damages in U.S. courts,
* tax credits for companies and individuals denied, for income earned in listed countries,
* duty-free goods exemption suspended for imports from those countries, and
* prohibition of U.S. Defense Department contracts above $100,000 with companies controlled by countries on the list.
If we look at the map on that same page, we can see that very few countries have a total financial sanction such as the likes of Iran.
> Really quite ridiculous that there are sanctions on something like 1/3 of the world.
Sanctions are one of the de facto tools in the arsenal of American soft diplomacy. To be frank, the US has so many sanctions because the USD is so powerful.
That's appealing to sanctions' effectiveness. It's unclear they are. Instead, they're a potent signalling mechanism that's more palatable than shipping arms or worse, soldiers.
A short snippet:
> The next day after Autherine was dismissed the paper came out with this headline: 'Things are quiet in Tuscaloosa today. There is peace on the campus of the university of Alabama.' Yes things were quiet in Tuscaloosa. yes there was peace on the campus, but it was peace at a great price. It was peace that had been purchased at the exorbitant price of an inept trustee board succoming to the whims and carprices of a vicious mob. It was peace that had been purchased at the price of allowing mobocracy to reign supreme over democracy. It was peace that had been purchased at the price of the capitulating to the forces of darkness. This is the type of peace that all men of goodwill hate. It is the type of peace that is obnoxious. It is the type of peace that stinks in the nostrils of the almighty God.
Of course, you could either view this sentiment as trivially applying to international politics or so different as to be a category error. But it's enough of an opening to suggest that these loaded terms are not as easily transferrable to ethical context as invested parties might want you to believe. It is difficult for folks to place their values firmly before external pressures when a country is much less empathizable with than an obviously abused person, but I think americans would be surprised at how giving a little might invite a larger revelation about their role in the world stage than desired by the powers that be.
World-systems theory is typically the alternative to the theory that pax americana (i.e. peace for me but not for thee) is universally desirable.