Picture this: a global summit of all the U.S.-sanctioned governments and public and private officials. The family photo would feature a diverse group of leaders from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East and look not unlike the G-7 or any other global gathering. At the center would be China, presenting itself as a moral and diplomatic—not to mention commercial and financial—ally to governments the United States has named and shamed.
In the past two decades, sanctions have become the go-to foreign-policy tool of Western governments, led by the United States. Recent sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and on Chinese companies for national security reasons mean the two powers have joined a growing club of U.S.-designated countries such as Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Venezuela.
According to a Columbia University database, six countries—Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Venezuela—are under comprehensive U.S. sanctions, meaning that most commercial and financial transactions with entities and individuals in those countries are prohibited under
