The US has used sanctions for decades as a low-cost way of targeting its enemies. On their face and according to the declared policy, sanctions aim to change behaviors of “bad” governments and punish the “bad” guys. The US depends greatly on its economic / financial and political position globally in making sanctions hurt the targeted entities, but what we try to demonstrate here is our belief that the US uses sanctions not as a tool of attack, but rather as a defense mechanism to against the rise of others on the world stage and to confront its own internal crises.

Preparation for the post-dollar phase has become a settled matter, as the “world money” as a whole will move to a new formula. The crisis seems to be making this replacement more urgent, as the International Monetary Fund has launched a call for a new Bretton Woods negotiation to reformulate the monetary system, and to move from a dollar-based system to a common system for central digital currencies.

Several days ago, many regions in the northeastern part of the country, especially those around Ain Issa, witnessed a military escalation between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the one hand, and the Turkish-backed armed groups on the other. This had been preceded by threats from official Turkish authorities to invade the region, as part of a Turkish series founded on biting off more Syrian territories under the pretext of SDF’s domination in those areas, and the alleged threat they pose to Turkish national security.

Over the last few years, we saw many examples of policies of the different international actors contributing to either effectuating partitioning of Syria or at least establishing it as a long-term fait accompli.