Sanctions, Adaptation, and the Edges of Economic Power

Sanctions have become structural features of the global economy. This episode traces their rise since 2014, the adaptation of targeted states, and the consequences for finance, trade, and humanitarian flows.

In this episode:

• How sanctions expanded after Crimea and deepened after the invasion of Ukraine.
• Why trade flows look stable in aggregate yet fragment beneath the surface.
• The ways Russia, Iran, and Venezuela have adapted through rerouting, barter, and shadow networks.
• The role of connector economies that preserve volumes while signaling fragmentation.
• How freezing central-bank reserves demonstrates leverage but raises doubts about trust in global money.
• The humanitarian effects that often go unmentioned: blocked aid transfers, shortages of medicine, and the liquidity crisis in Afghanistan.
• Why sanctions are powerful, but fragile when they corrode the networks they rely on.
• What design choices can preserve their credibility into the future.

Sanctions remain central to international politics. They punish, deter, and signal without force. Yet they also expose how economic power rests on trust, and how easily that trust can be eroded by overreach.

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