The United States and its Western allies have once again unsheathed their favorite weapon of economic coercion: sanctions. This time, the target is the BRICS bloc—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and their newly minted partners, including Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the UAE.
These new sanctions, aimed at punishing BRICS nations for their growing defiance of Western financial dominance, are not just misguided; they are a reckless escalation that undermines global stability, alienates the Global South, and accelerates the very multipolar world order the West seeks to suppress.
Far from reasserting control, these measures expose the desperation of a declining hegemon, shooting itself in the foot while claiming moral superiority.
First, let’s dispel the myth that sanctions are a precise tool for upholding “international law” or promoting “human rights.” The U.S. and its allies have long weaponized economic sanctions to enforce compliance with their geopolitical agenda, often with devastating consequences for the most vulnerable.
The new sanctions on BRICS states, particularly targeting Russia, China, and Iran, are less about principle and more about punishing nations that dare to challenge the U.S.-led financial system.
By targeting BRICS, the West is not defending a rules-based order; it is waging economic warfare against countries representing nearly half the world’s population and 29% of global GDP. This is not justice. It’s imperialism dressed up as diplomacy.
The hypocrisy is glaring. The U.S. condemns BRICS nations for violating international norms while conveniently ignoring its own track record – backing wars, coups, and regimes that flout human rights when it suits Western interests.
The sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, for instance, have failed to cripple Moscow’s economy, as trade with China surged to $245 billion in 2024, up 175% since 2021.
Meanwhile, these measures have spiked global energy and food prices, disproportionately harming the Global South—nations the West claims to champion.
Brazil’s President Lula da Silva has rightly called out this double standard, denouncing sanctions as tools that exacerbate poverty and environmental challenges while undermining the UN Charter.
Moreover, these sanctions are backfiring spectacularly. Rather than isolating BRICS, they’ve galvanized the bloc’s resolve to dismantle the dollar’s stranglehold on global trade. The push for de-dollarization—accelerated by sanctions on Russia and Iran—has gained momentum, with intra-BRICS trade jumping 56% from 2017 to 2022.
China’s yuan has overtaken the dollar in Chinese-Russian trade, and oil transactions in non-dollar currencies hit 20% globally in 2023. The BRICS Bridge, a proposed payment system using digital currencies, is a direct response to Western financial exclusion, offering a lifeline to sanctioned nations.
By punishing BRICS, the West is inadvertently fueling an alternative financial architecture—one that could diminish the dollar’s dominance and, with it, U.S. leverage.
The inclusion of new BRICS members like Iran and Ethiopia, and interest from over 30 countries including NATO member Turkey, signals a broader rebellion against Western financial hegemony.
These nations aren’t joining BRICS to spite the West; they’re seeking economic autonomy in a world where the U.S. uses its currency as a cudgel.
The sanctions, far from deterring expansion, have made BRICS a magnet for countries fed up with Western double standards—evident in the Global South’s frustration over vaccine hoarding during COVID and selective outrage over conflicts like Ukraine versus Gaza.
Perhaps most damning is the strategic myopia. The U.S. seems oblivious to the fact that sanctions are alienating key players like India and Brazil, democracies that refuse to be pawns in a Western chess game.
India, under Modi, has prioritized strategic autonomy, strengthening ties with Russia and China while maintaining Western partnerships.
Brazil, wary of antagonizing Washington, still condemns sanctions as unlawful, prioritizing trade diversification. By targeting BRICS, the U.S. risks pushing these pivotal nations further into the orbit of Moscow and Beijing, undermining its own influence.
The West’s obsession with sanctions also ignores the bloc’s internal complexity. BRICS isn’t a monolith; it’s a messy coalition of democracies and autocracies, oil exporters and importers, with competing interests.
Sanctions that treat BRICS as a unified anti-Western front oversimplify the reality, alienating moderates like India and Brazil who seek reform, not revolution, within the global order. This blunt approach only deepens global divides, making cooperation on critical issues like climate change and cybersecurity harder.
It’s time for the U.S. and its allies to abandon this self-defeating strategy. Sanctions haven’t toppled regimes or curbed BRICS’ ambitions; they’ve strengthened the bloc’s resolve and exposed Western vulnerabilities.
Instead of doubling down on economic coercion, the West should engage BRICS nations through dialogue and reform—perhaps by redistributing voting rights in the IMF and World Bank to reflect today’s economic realities. Clinging to a unipolar fantasy risks not just irrelevance but active opposition from a growing Global South.
In the end, these new sanctions aren’t a show of strength; they’re a confession of weakness. The U.S. and its allies, rattled by BRICS’ rise, are resorting to the same tired playbook, expecting different results.
If they continue, they’ll only hasten the multipolar world they fear—one where the West’s voice is just one among many, drowned out by its own hubris.