SATISH SHARMA - not just Rotigraphy.: Times have changed, and the emerging regional order requires new strategic understandings.

https://x.com/RezaNasri1/status/2060115479361126532

The US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran - and Israel’s systematic encroachment on the fundamental rights of other states, including the right to self-defense - has altered perceptions on many fronts. It has led many to question the wisdom of outsourcing national security, revived the importance of safeguarding sovereignty, and reshaped perceptions of the very function of international waterways. 

It should also fundamentally change how the region and the broader global community view U.S. sanctions.

Decades of unwarranted compliance with US extraterritorial sanctions has emboldened Washington and created a dangerous sense of entitlement to erode other countries’ independence and sovereignty.

Every time governments, foreign banks or companies complied, Washington interpreted it not just as reluctant submission to economic pressure, but as acceptance of America’s right to impose its rules beyond its borders. This cycle has steadily expanded the sanctions regime, turning economic coercion into routine statecraft and lowering the political cost of further overreach.

Under international law, these extraterritorial measures are illegal. The UN Charter (Articles 2(1) and 2(7)) establishes sovereign equality and explicitly prohibits states from interfering in matters within another country’s domestic jurisdiction. The 1970 Declaration on Friendly Relations reinforces this by banning any form of direct or indirect interference in the internal or external affairs of other states. The International Court of Justice, in its 1986 Nicaragua ruling, made clear that economic coercion designed to force policy change amounts to unlawful intervention. Customary international law limits a state’s jurisdiction to clear and accepted grounds, primarily territory or nationality, which secondary sanctions completely disregard. They also undermine the WTO system, as the GATT Article XXI national security exception cannot justify punishing third countries for engaging in lawful trade or sovereign transactions.

Our region must respond to this pressure through institutional resilience and strategic economic integration. This requires building independent regional mechanisms — including a multicurrency payment and settlement network insulated from unilateral sanctions, a regional liquidity and investment facility capable of financing trade and infrastructure outside Western-controlled financial channels, and a coordinated legal and commercial framework to shield banks, shipping companies, insurers, and investors from secondary sanctions exposure.

Times have changed, and the emerging regional order requires new strategic understandings.

Quote

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

@SecScottBessent

The United States Government will not tolerate any effort to impose a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz. Oman, in particular, should know that the U.S. Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved - directly or indirectly - in facilitating tolls for the Strait and