It would not take much for the US to squeeze the country and send the economy into a tailspin
SA’s “shoot me if you can” approach to foreign policy comes while geopolitical conflicts have become linked with trade, making the economic costs of choosing the wrong friends that much dearer.Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago SA, by refusing to condemn its actions, has been daring Western countries, particularly the US, to do their damnedest. That is shortsighted — for reasons that are well known.SA’s economy is, by most measures, at its weakest since 1994.
SA continuing with the foreign policy course it is now on will ... mean taking a huge economic hit simply for choosing the wrong friends. “The US can, in theory, use its extraterritorial sanctioning powers moderated by loopholes to fine-tune coercion over not just adversaries but allies,” the article reads.It’s that extraterritorial sanctioning power the US can deploy against SA if the country continues to hitch its future to Russia and its associates. The US can also use its allies to apply economic pressure.All this would be easy to do because of SA’s historical economic links with Western countries.
• Sikhakhane, a former spokesperson for the finance minister, National Treasury and SA Reserve Bank, is editor of The Conversation Africa. He writes in his personal capacity.
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