{"id":65158,"date":"2026-06-25T08:47:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T08:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/?p=65158"},"modified":"2026-06-25T08:47:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T08:47:04","slug":"sanctions-as-soldiers-the-rise-of-the-financial-battlefield-by-zohaib-khan-durrani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/sanctions-as-soldiers-the-rise-of-the-financial-battlefield-by-zohaib-khan-durrani\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanctions as Soldiers: The Rise of the Financial Battlefield – by Zohaib Khan Durrani"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Zohaib Khan Durrani<\/strong><\/em>
\nStudent of BS International Relations at National Defence University Islamabad<\/p>\n

\"\"Economic statecraft has widely been used in International Relations by the states to achieve their foreign policy objectives. Economic tools such as Foreign aid, trade, and policies governing the international flow of capital can be used as foreign policy tools and are considered the most common forms of economic statecraft. Marshall Plan launched by the United States in 1948 is an example of the economic statecraft used to achieve particular goals.<\/p>\n

Though in the very early times when the battles were being fought through swords and spears the main target the armies would use to cut of the food supply chain, the trade and ports from the particular kingdom. This deferment of the state would be done in order to exhaust it. It was a way to deplete its resources that would led to the weakness of a particular kingdom the victory thus would become more easy for those who would target the economy of the other state.<\/p>\n

In 1453 the Sultan Mehmed 2 uses the siege warfare strategy to conquer Constantinople. He utilized a brutal and highly strategic food and economic blockade as a primary weapon to weaken Constantinople before and during the famous siege. A year before the actual military siege began, Mehmed launched an economic strike by constructing the Rumelihisar\u0131 fortress on the European side of the Bosporus Strait.<\/p>\n

His great-grandfather had already built a fortress on the Asian side Anadoluhisar\u0131. Constantinople heavily relied on grain ships and economic trade coming from the Black Sea. Mehmed began demanding a steep toll from all passing ships. When a Venetian ship refused to pay and tried to bypass the checkpoint, Ottoman cannons sank it, sending a clear message the supply line was dead.<\/p>\n

During the siege, Mehmed\u2019s navy of around 300 ships completely surrounded the city from the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus to ensure no Western European relief ships could slip through with food or weapons. By using the economic coercion thus the Mehmud conquered the most prominent city at that time.<\/p>\n

Centuries later after World War 2 the same economic coercion is still used by the powerful states to suppress the vulnerable states. The methods have evolved but the tool is used the same as was used centuries ago which is the economy. Now the major states have adopted modern techniques such as economic sanctions, tariffs and trade barriers, cut offs of foreign aid, Debt Trap Leverage and Export Controls and Technology Blacklists.<\/p>\n

These modern methods paralyses a state economically after which it has to surrender its resources to the major powers. The great powers have established various institutions in this respect that are utilized to suppress the states through various tactics and strategies. The weak states are thus compelled in a way that serves the interests of the dominant states.<\/p>\n

Weaker nations mostly rely on a single major powerful state to buy their primary exports (agricultural goods, textiles, or raw materials). Major Powers exploit this vulnerability by cutting the imports from the small country. For the weaker nation, it means immediate economic devastation, bankrupt farmers, and massive domestic political pressure on the government to capitulate. The US used this particular tool in order to suppress Venezuela.<\/p>\n

From Islamabad to Ankara: The Emergence of a New Global Defense Block & The Destiny of Muslim World<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n