Destitution should not be a tool of U.S. foreign policy.
By Jacob Batinga, Current Affairs
What right does the United States have to starve civilians to achieve political goals? Despite its obvious importance, this question is largely absent from mainstream discourse. Through economic sanctions, or economic warfare, the U.S. can unilaterally collapse economies and generate famine in foreign countries. The civilian death toll from sanctions is often equal to—and sometimes greater than—the toll from conventional warfare. Yet on both sides of the aisle, it is taken for granted that we have the “right” to impose destitution on civilian populations in order to advance our interests.

The U.S. administers two types of sanctions: primary and secondary sanctions. Primary sanctions cut off economic relations between targeted foreign entities—states, individuals, industries, or corporations—and the American economy. Secondary sanctions, also known as “extraterritorial sanctions,” are more pernicious. Secondary sanctions impose sanctions or other penalties on third parties not under the jurisdiction of the U.S. if they refuse to cease economic relations with the entity under primary sanctions. For example, the U.S. imposed both primary and secondary sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran (CBI). Therefore, the U.S. prohibits American citizens and corporations from conducting business with the bank (primary sanctions), and imposes sanctions on any foreign state, individual, or corporation that chooses to work with the CBI (secondary sanctions).
Many legal scholars and most of the world, including the European Union, maintain that these secondary sanctions clearly violate well established principles of international law, interfere with the sovereignty of foreign governments, and are ultimately illegitimate.
Recent Posts
New Poll: Democratic Socialism Is Now Mainstream
September 17, 2025
Take Action Now A national poll from Jacobin, DSA Fund, and Data for Progress finds broad support for democratic socialist leaders and left-wing…
Gerrymandering & The War On Democracy
September 17, 2025
Take Action Now It’s one piece of a much larger democratic breakdown.By RJ Eskow, The Zero Hour Report A few days before the Charlie Kirk…
What Happened To Silverio Villegas González
September 17, 2025
Take Action Now Immigration agents shot and killed an unarmed 38-year-old father outside Chicago on Friday—and their initial narrative of events was…
Talk World Radio: Sam Rosenthal On The Occupation Of DC And What’s The Matter With Democrats
September 16, 2025
Take Action Now War, peace, and politics with RootsAction’s Political Director Sam RosenthalBy David Swanson and Sam Rosenthal, Talk World Radio…