Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 10
By Kamila Aliyeva – Trend:
The United States sanctions will impact its relations with Russia and China in a negative way, while they will also prove to be unsuccessful with regards to North Korea, Dr. Taryn Shepperd, expert in US-Chinese relations, told Trend.
“In fact, I believe that the sanctions have proved - for a long time now - to have been ineffective against this regime, and I believe that they will continue to be so – certainly so long as China (and others) turns a blind eye to certain circumventions and only half-heartedly supports them,” she said.
Expert emphasized that either way, the sanctions will prove their inefficiency in the short and long terms.
She further said that, sanctioning North Korea, which is, according to her, focused on survival, internal cohesion and a sense of external threat, will remain ineffective.
“Any regime, that bases its legitimacy and the very survival on strength and a sense of national pride, can ill afford to be seen to 'give in' to external threats and demands,” Dr. Shepperd said.
The only way to counteract the threat presented by the regime and its current policy is to seek the engagement with it, and to do so in a symbolically equal and respectful diplomatic manner, according to the expert.
“To further seek to punish and effectively 'talk down' to such politicians and leaders will only serve to lead to a further sense of humiliation and ostracization, which will not only likely prove self-fulfilling, but also end up punishing those who already suffer within the society on the receiving end of such punitive diplomatic measures,” she added.
U.S. has recently imposed a new set of sanctions against Iran, Russia and North Korea on Aug 2. The sanctions were expected to bring North Korea and Iran closer.
Although the sanctions are not officially directed against China, they concern Chinese banks and trading companies involved in financing of the China-DPRK commodity trade.