By Qamar Bashir
In a world already teetering on the edge of conflict, the United States’ expanding use of sanctions has taken a dangerous and unprecedented turn. What began as a tool to deter rogue actors has now become a blunt instrument of coercion—wielded not only against adversarial governments and corporations, but shockingly, against international institutions and even human rights defenders. This shift signals a collapse of diplomatic norms and a troubling rise in unilateral aggression cloaked under the guise of legality.
The recent imposition of U.S. sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, illustrates the depth of this crisis. Her sole offense was the publication of meticulously documented reports that highlighted Israeli war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank. Her findings contributed to the International Criminal Court’s issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. Rather than supporting these legal processes, the United States retaliated—not against the alleged perpetrators, but against those seeking justice.
Albanese’s case, though emblematic, is not isolated. The U.S. has gone further to impose sanctions on the very judges and prosecutors of the ICC—targeting those who dared to uphold international law. These punitive actions are not based on evidence of wrongdoing but on the political inconvenience such accountability brings to America’s closest allies.
This pattern reveals a deeper flaw in American foreign policy. Sanctions are no longer tools of last resort; they have become the default mechanism when diplomacy, negotiation, and international consensus fail to align with Washington’s interests. What’s more disturbing is the arbitrary and often whimsical application of these measures, guided not by global justice but by strategic alignment—especially with Israel.
The history is long and revealing. Russian President Vladimir Putin has faced personal sanctions since 2014, intensified after the invasion of Ukraine. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, accused of corruption and democratic erosion, has been subjected to sweeping sanctions. Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were first sanctioned, then militarily removed. Iran’s leaders, Syria’s officials, North Korean diplomats, and even Afghan institutions have all found themselves targeted by America’s economic arsenal.
But the reach doesn’t stop with political figures. Business tycoons like Russian oil magnate Gennady Timchenko, Zimbabwe’s Kudakwashe Tagwirei, and Iranian frontmen like Elyas Nirumand Tumaj have been blacklisted. Global firms—Chinese tech giant Huawei, Iranian and Venezuelan oil companies, and even Swiss-based intermediaries—have seen their operations strangled under U.S. directives. Sanctions have cut off access to financial systems, disrupted supply chains, and destroyed livelihoods across continents.
Even entire nations reel under U.S. economic siege. Iran, Venezuela, Syria, North Korea, Russia, and Afghanistan face restrictions that devastate their economies and isolate their populations. China, while not under full-spectrum sanctions, endures targeted restrictions on its semiconductor, telecom, and defense sectors. Sectoral bans and export controls are calibrated not for security but to contain rivals and maintain technological dominance.
The hypocrisy is staggering. The U.S.—self-proclaimed guardian of democracy—has sanctioned a UN official for defending human rights, judges for enforcing international law, and students for exercising free speech. During Congressional hearings, Senator Marco Rubio chillingly defended the arrests of university students protesting Israeli actions in Gaza. He declared bluntly that “whoever opposes Israel or demonstrates against it will be dealt with.” Protesters have been arrested by masked agents. Faculty members supporting them have been fired. Even academic institutions are facing punitive funding cuts—transforming universities into battlegrounds for political conformity.
This crackdown directly contradicts the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech, expression, and peaceful assembly. By criminalizing dissent, particularly when it challenges Israeli policies, the United States reveals the depth of its subservience to foreign agendas. It is no longer just international justice that is under assault—it is the American soul itself.
This obsessive alignment with Israel, particularly under Netanyahu’s leadership, is the common thread linking many of these punitive actions. Whether in Libya, Iraq, Syria, or Iran, nearly every military or economic intervention by the U.S. over the past two decades has mirrored the strategic calculus of Tel Aviv. Any regime perceived as hostile to Israeli dominance is painted as an existential threat—and then systematically undermined through sanctions, subversion, or war.
Netanyahu has made no effort to hide his ambitions. By turning Gaza into a killing field and ignoring every international plea, Israel has openly defied the United Nations, the Muslim world, and even U.S. public opinion. His administration’s policies, grounded in racial supremacy and territorial expansion, have reduced Palestinian territories to rubble, desecrated the very notion of international law, and created a humanitarian catastrophe that history will not forget.
And yet, rather than restraining these excesses, the U.S. has become their chief enabler. From military aid packages to diplomatic cover at the UN, Washington has placed Israel above reproach. But the tide is beginning to turn. Western nations—once unwavering allies—are now imposing sanctions on Israel. Major global corporations are severing ties with Israeli firms. Public opinion across Europe and America is shifting rapidly, with campus protests and media commentary reflecting growing outrage.
This backlash is not just a reaction to Israeli actions—it’s a response to America’s complicity. Weaponizing sanctions to silence critics, intimidate allies, and crush dissent is no longer a sustainable policy. The credibility of U.S. leadership is eroding, and its moral standing is collapsing under the weight of its double standards.
It is time for urgent recalibration. The United States must de-link its foreign policy from Netanyahu’s destructive vision and return to principles rooted in international law, justice, and diplomacy. Sanctions should be tied to human rights violations—not wielded as tools to shield those committing them. Engagement, not economic strangulation, should define America’s approach to the world.
A nation that once inspired the world through its Constitution, civil liberties, and democratic ideals must not descend into a caricature of repression and hypocrisy. To restore its standing, the U.S. must recommit to its founding principles—liberty, justice, and respect for the rule of law. Otherwise, it risks becoming not a leader of the free world, but a hostage to the whims of one regime, isolated and feared for all the wrong reasons.
