Sanctions are useless, counterproductive virtue signals.

They accomplish nothing, especially against countries like Russia, which has the means to fight them. However, even against countries like Iran, which may not be big but is as smart, sanctions are evadable.

I’ve written many times about why I hate sanctions. Let me reiterate my arguments here.

Why I Hate Sanctions

From “What Sanctions Accomplish,” originally written in the Rude in June 2021:

Back to [Woodrow] Wilson. This man ran on an antiwar ticket only to enter the US into World War I a mere five months after his re-election. And you thought only modern politicians lie like rugs!

Like a White Castle-induced fart, Wilson described his sanctions as peaceful, silent, and deadly.

Wilson packaged sanctions as a peaceful alternative to spilling blood over a grievance as with his sleight-of-hand with the war. Except sanctions are entirely civilian affairs.

War didn't use to be like that. Civilians were largely left out of it. And trading with the enemy was not only standard; it was seen as a way to compensate civilians who were wrongly harmed.

The late antiwar activist Justin Raimondo wrote in a post in 1998:

The concept of economic sanctions as a weapon also assumes international economic regulations and enforcement agencies, setting up a cadre of bureaucrats who sit in judgment of "outlaw nations": in effect, the apparatus of world economic planners. And contrary to Wilson's predictions, real war has often followed the use of sanctions.

Over 500,000 Iraqi children died as a result of sanctions after the First Gulf War. That was the price old Maddie Albright was happy to pay, despite another authentic and costly war following soon after.

The price for what prize? After another nearly two decades in Iraq, that prize, whatever it was, clearly eluded us.

Countries With Smart Human Capital Find Ways

Furthermore, one of my main problems with the Russian sanctions was that they could quickly turn their pipelines east.

Even before the USG blew up Nordstream, Russia had already turned thinking in a different direction:

Credit: intellinews.com

The upshot is this: Europe isn’t the only market for Russian oil and gas.

First, it was pipelines. Now, it’s rail and shipping.

You can imagine my complete lack of surprise when I read this in Bloomberg:

The article begins (bolds mine):

Russia is pressing ahead with the construction of two new transport corridors linking Asia and Europe, seeking to weaken sanctions over its war in Ukraine at the same time as Middle East turmoil is disrupting global trade.

The shipping and rail networks via Iran and an Arctic sea passage could strengthen Moscow’s pivot toward Asian powerhouses China and India and away from Europe. They have the potential to embed Russia at the heart of much of international trade even as the US and its allies are trying to isolate President Vladimir Putin over the war.

Credit: Bloomberg

Compared to the Suez Canal, these routes cut 30-50% of the transport time off. Not only that, but this new way allows Russia to avoid Houthi drones, Israeli ships, and Iranian missiles.

According to TASS, the Russian News Agency, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk said,

The main focus is on the development of the North-South international transportation corridor. The North-South is the shortest route, running entirely via friendly countries' territories. Given what is seen in the Red Sea region, the North-South will gain global significance and supply Europe with cargo on more favorable terms.

The Issues

Here’s the irritating thing: these projects are so expensive they’d never have been considered without the stupidity of Western sanctions forcing Russia’s hand.

More from Bloomberg:

Outdated Iranian infrastructure is holding up the development of the International North South Transportation Corridor connecting India to the European part of Russia. And even as accelerating climate change melts Arctic ice to make the Northern Sea Route, or NSR, a more viable option, formidable logistical challenges remain along Russia’s remote coastline.

Russia is preparing to invest more than $25 billion to upgrade the route via Iran and improve facilities along the Russian Arctic shoreline, including a fleet of domestically manufactured ice-breakers. It also plans to patrol the NSR route with a network of drone bases, Izvestia newspaper reported, citing an unidentified Defense Ministry official.

Russia issued a 1.3 billion euro ($1.4 billion) loan to Iran last May to build a vital missing rail link that will stretch 162 kilometers (101 miles) to connect the city of Rasht along the Caspian Sea coast to Astara on the border with Azerbaijan. Once completed, the railway will allow cargo supplies from St. Petersburg to Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main export port on the Persian Gulf.

Wrap Up

Joke Biden took aim and shot America squarely in the foot. Again.

These ridiculous sanctions never worked against Russia. In fact, you can say the only thing they’ve done is they forced Russia to devise new and innovative ways to evade the existing world order and build a new one of their own!

Dropping the sanctions would be the best thing to happen to the West, but facesaving is far more important in an election year.

The Russians have outsmarted the West again. Sadly, that’s the way things are nowadays.