Blocked From Global Markets
Sanctions are not just economic warfare on everyday people and their country, but an erosion of survival capacity.
Iran and Cuba serve as present day examples of the devastating consequences resulting from decades of sanctions against them that disrupted their economies and undermined the ability of their societies to adapt, innovate, and survive in the face of mounting environmental crises.
Cut off from foreign investment, nations like these are intentionally denied access to updated modern technology and new science as it pertains to agriculture, water management, renewable energy, and environmental monitoring.
The question I ask today is what did anyone expect the outcome would be? An Ecotopian society?
Desertification and Degradation
In the early 2000s, I researched desertification in China after watching a documentary that moved me in ways I can not fully express.
What struck me most was a short segment highlighting the efforts of one elderly woman trying to hold back the blowing sands burying not only her house but the entire village she called home. She did this by sweeping the sand drifts from her doorway and clearing walking paths through the village with an old broomstick. Her reason? The village, her home represented the totality of her life, and she was determined to save whatever she could, for as long as she could. Where else would she go? What happened to that woman? I don’t know. Maybe she’s still there, entombed beneath the sands she fought so hard to keep at bay.
Whatever the ending, her’s was a tragic micro-story contained within the broader context of the show’s greater narrative about desertification in China. The short clip was a glimpse into the stark realities of this elderly person’s life as a non-elite human being. It shined a light, however briefly, onto her acts of personal courage needed to survive in a harsh environment and her unbending spirit of resistance as she went about the daily routine of her mundane life lost among the suffering multitudes of a compromised world.
Barriers to Change
Iranian rivers are drying up and dust storms choke its people, countryside and cities. Groundwater is being sucked out faster than rain can replenish it forcing farmers to abandon their arid degraded lands. Yet the tools to fix this, education, efficient irrigation systems, desalination plants, solar-powered pumps, are either too expensive or outright restricted by sanctions that limit access to education, international finance and technology. The other major barrier is the complexity of its own government and corruption within the ranks.
In Cuba, rising sea levels are swallowing coastal communities causing saltwater to seep into freshwater aquifers. Hurricanes are growing stronger and more frequent. Yet, once again, Cuba lacks the resources to build resilient infrastructure, import climate-smart crops, or modernize its aging energy grid because of decades of American sanctions. It has made adaptation to climate change nearly impossible for the Cuban people and its government and the irony of it is, Cuba contributes almost nothing to global emissions.
Iranian and Cuban leaders are watching an attitude shift in how major non-western leaders interact with one another, their people, and their nations interest. In my heart, I believe that both Iran and Cuba, and most certainly their people, genuinely want to be part of this transformation, for the benefit of their countries and themselves.
BRICS is the evidence and proof of this shift in attitude and direction. Over many years, members of BRICS has quietly worked together in the background pursuing shared goals, united not by Western ideology but by mutual cooperation and independent visions for development.
Isolation and Man-made Crises
Sanctions are not the cause of droughts or hurricanes but we do know they cripple the urgent response needed to help temper the onslaught of environment breakdown.
It will take decades to right the wrong, but the righting should begin now.
The whole ME region and surrounding countries have to figure out how to set aside their egos, biases, and let go of their past arguments so as to learn how to share waters rights, especially with countries in immediate crisis, in an equitable fashion or else their own countries will suffer the same fate and worst. Yes, Iranian leadership messed up badly. The government’s mismanagement of water, natural resources and land, bad decisions in public policy and education, all contributed to the miserable state Iran is in today. But, do nearby leaders really want 92 million hungry and thirsty people to feel like they have nothing left to lose?
Real Solutions
- Fresh drought-resistant seeds should be made accessible to Iranian farmers, and other distressed countries in the area. Freely given by the wealthy countries without cost or conditions.
- Farmers should be educated on good farming techniques that use water wisely.
- State of the art water purification systems should be made available for purchase, or donated by the more wealthier countries to the countries in the region. Again, without conditions
Every country’s engineers and scientists should be invited to collaborate on regional solutions. That is if they haven’t fled or been killed during military intrusion by others.
Food for Thought
I had an epiphany today. It dawned on me that the world must move beyond the outdated idea of a “seat at the table” because it is a symbol of exclusion disguised as inclusion of a Western-led world order. True leadership from any region should not have to wait for invitations or sit as guests in someone else’s forum. They should be recognized as equal partners in shaping solutions to their problems.
Having said that, I believe that countries in immediate crisis should reach out for assistance directly from wealthier neighbors, even form those they have years of disagreement with. Be humble so as to not be humbled.
It will take many years for trust to take root, on all sides, but in the meanwhile, countries in distress should be willing to change for the betterment of their people and country (I am not saying submit to someone else’s ideology, just do the right thing). Somehow, someway, smaller countries and countries in crisis should be given the opportunity to do ask for assistance without having to forfeit their sovereignty or be forced to sell a majority of their country’s assets. In my opinion of course.
“A seat at the table” is deeply rooted in Western political and diplomatic imagery. It implies a formal, often hierarchical structure where access, power, and legitimacy are granted or negotiated within a framework defined by Western norms, institutions, and values. By using that language, we unconsciously reinforce the idea that legitimacy comes only from inclusion in their systems, on their terms.
So, when the media and leaders speak the words “at the table,” the metaphor itself subtly centers the West as the host and everyone else as visitors needing permission—whether or not western representatives are present “at the table.”
Control in the Name of Survival
When a country is under siege, economically, politically, environmentally, its leaders often respond by tightening control. It’s a normal response really, for example, when a teen is acting out in ways that are destructive, the parent will typically limit the child’s time away from the home and family influence.
Continuing with Iran and Cuba, both of these real life scenarios, we can see the state frames itself as the last line of defense against foreign domination so any signs of unrest are viewed not as a cry for help from their people but a potential opening for forced regime change. The problem is, and continues to be, foreign governments and their agents actively interfering in society by sowing the seeds of discontent in order to remove those in power.
This is the also the same control wield by US, UK, NATO and EU countries especially as it relates to the Palestinian Genocide, and the Ukraine proxy war. These so-called democracies restrict the movement of their own people across borders and silence dissent and alternate views by arresting and jailing their citizens and threaten and silence independent media.
The fear coups and forced political upheaval isn’t baseless.
The following information is all over the internet:
- 1953, when the CIA overthrew Iran’s elected government to protect Western oil interests.
- US-backed funding for “democracy promotion” against opposition groups in Venezuela, Ukraine, and beyond.
- The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) openly finance youth movements, media, and NGOs in adversarial states, to name a few.
From the lens of Tehran or Havana, this is the foundation of western hegemony: isolate, destabilize, replace.
The Trap: Repression That Fuels Collapse
This pattern repeats across the Global South: Venezuela’s collapsing oil infrastructure pollutes waterways while sanctions block cleanup equipment. Syria’s farmland turned to dust after years of war and drought, with little support for recovery. Even in places like Iraq or Yemen, environmental decay and foreign intervention feed off each other, creating feedback
Is there a way out?
Break the Chain that Binds
Not through regime change, not through more sanctions, but through sovereign cooperation on shared survival.
First, lift restrictions on environmental and humanitarian technology for distressed countries such as desalination units, solar panels, drought-resistant seeds, water-purification systems so countries like Iran and Cuba can fight ecological collapse without begging permission from distant capitals.
Second, create neutral platforms for regional environmental cooperation, where countries can share data on water, climate, and food security without political preconditions because droughts and rising seas don’t recognize borders or ideologies.
Third, the US and the “Western block” specifically, must move from a system of punishment to one of genuine engagement. Sanctions, isolation, genocides, coups, western ideology have failed to produce lasting positive change for people or the environment.
Instead, cooperation and mutual interest are proving more effective, principles BRICS is already building on.
Fourth, the mindset of leaders from emerging and distressed countries must evolve if they are to be part of the positive change unfolding in today’s multipolar world. Those who cannot adapt risk being left behind.
This requires a radical shift in thinking and world view, one that doesn’t come easily, especially to minds shaped by decades of different assumptions and old certainties. There is a lack of trust, justifiable so.
Trust must be both earned and extended, it cannot grow if no one takes the first step. A real-world example lies in the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska a few days ago.
While deep skepticism is warranted given the state of relations between Russia and the US, the meeting in Alaska showed how even minimal dialogue can open channels where none existed.
Reactions from the public were mixed. Live coverage by US media was distorted, to put it mildly. No surprise there, CNN, Fox and others act like an extension of the Republican and Democrat Congressional Clown Show. I was going back and forth between RT, CNN, FOX, MSNBC. I suggest everyone give that a try at least once.
The upcoming Trump Zelensky meeting this evening, shaped by the Putin Trump parley, will either bring resolution or not. I doubt there will be further delays in the pronouncement of an outcome, one way or the other.
However, the meeting between the two leaders emphasized that the act of the engagement itself signals trust, however fragile, and it begins with presence.
Finally, Countries should recognize that it is the citizens that are the heart of the nation; not a president nor a King or Queen. In the U.S. this is a difficult concept for elites, Congress, and the White House to comprehend, very unfortunate for us Americans who were brainwashed into believing we live in a true democracy.
Governance is not a privilege to be held over others, but a responsibility that includes treating citizens, men and women alike, with fairness and respect with authentic representation in governance, not superficial congressional members who represent the foreign lobbies and Corporate interest.
The only lasting security is built on real justice, true sustainability, and the simple human right to live in peace free from toxins.
