Sanctions: A New Form of Colonization, or an Incentive to Build an Independent Economy?

The topic of sanctions has been widely discussed in recent times, and not only among experts in international affairs, but the general public, too. However, discussions around economic sanctions are mainly reduced to assessing their economic impact on the country in question. And generally, discussions do not go further than examining the efficiency and acceptability of such an instrument of foreign policy. They rarely, for example, take into account the specific nature of sanctions as an instrument of foreign policy. Nor do they focus on the mechanisms for imposing them, or the consequences for individual nations and humanity as a whole. What does the experience (and consequences) of economic wars in relation to African nations, Russia, China, India, Turkey, Cuba, Iran, and Serbia tell us today? What are the grounds and legitimacy of waging economic wars against Russia? How should the legislation of independent states be improved when building independent economies and forging foreign trade ties? What should be done to create a global distribution of markets based on principles of mutual respect and recognition of other nations’ interests?