New Delhi: When it comes to global relations, America is often seen as a giant, casting a long and complicated shadow over the world. While it serves as a beacon of democracy and freedom for many, it is a symbol of supremacy and dominance for others, hence many nations have deep resentment or even outright hostility toward America, not only because of its military intervention in their parts of the world but also the severe economic sanctions imposed on countries that have left them crippled.
Historical disputes, ideological differences, leading to America’s isolationism and emulated by many in the West, left bustling cities only desirous of just the very necessities. The US footprint is impossible to avoid, which leaves behind scars used to fuel animosity.
We will investigate ten countries with reasons to gripe against America – a mix of old grievances, new rivalry, and claims of sovereignty that make their opposition to the US not only political but also profoundly personal.
Let’s delve into why these countries regard America as simply not just a far-off superpower; instead, they view it as an adversary that shapes their destiny.
1. China: The Rising Dragon and the Eagle’s Shadow
Imagine two giants, locked in a battle not of fists but of economy, ideology, and technology. China, the rising dragon, sees the United States, the established eagle, as the one standing in its way. And America has seen the rise of this Asian giant as a challenge to its already established supremacy.
The relationship wasn’t always so contentious. Decades ago, China opened its doors to American business, and both countries benefited. The country’s enormous Belt and Road Initiative, however, began chiseling US global clout into a corner. Ambitions that came with assertiveness and aggression against some countries, in part. Decline was already becoming a problem for Washington DC. Technological superiority in AI and companies like Huawei left an imprint in Beijing, as the US particularly challenged its recent rise to power. Tensions between both nations are already growing: tariffs from the US on Chinese products, oppressive moves from the US towards firms like Huawei.
Other issues that have fueled more hostility in the geopolitical relationship include disputes over Taiwan, Hong Kong, control over South China Sea, and US military assets in East Asia.
The tipping point-off course was Taiwan. Despite endorsing the “One China policy”, which acknowledges Beijing’s claim to Taiwan, the US continues to support Taiwan’s de facto independence through arms sales, diplomatic support, and security assurances. This balancing act-acknowledging “One China” while bolstering Taiwan- has always infuriated Beijing. Each new arms deal or diplomatic overture to Taipei is seen as a direct challenge to China’s sovereignty, pushing tensions to new heights.
More recently, Tibet has become an issue – a region which China annexed in 1951. The US criticized China’s policies in Tibet, particularly regarding human rights abuses and cultural suppression. Although the US does not go the last step of recognizing Tibetan independence, its support for the Dalai Lama and advocacy for Tibetan autonomy has remained a thorn in Beijing’s side.
With US backing human rights in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, and China flapping its military muscles in the South China Sea, both countries are on a collision course- one that could transform the very essence of global power distribution.
Sanctions: In addition to the trade war, other sanctions were imposed by the US on Chinese firms, such as Huawei and military leaders, over the South China Sea controversy. The US sanctioned China over human rights abuses in Xinjiang, where China has been accused of oppressing the Uyghur Muslim population.
2. Russia: From Cold War to Cold Shoulders
The frozen tundras of Russia echo with whispers of a past that never quite let go. The Cold War may have ended officially in the 1990s, but, at least in the minds of many Russians, it never truly thawed as an ideological standoff against America. During the collapse of the Soviet Union, a weakened Russia saw NATO’s spread-to the borders. To Moscow, this wasn’t diplomacy, but rather encroachment.
Then came Ukraine, a former Soviet state yearning for western democracy. And when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the West’s response was swift and punishing—sanctions that crippled the Russian economy. With accusations of election meddling, cyber warfare, and military posturing, the US and Russia seem stuck in an era of mutual distrust, with Vladimir Putin embodying Russia’s resistance against Western influence.
Sanctions: The US imposed severe economic sanctions on Russian banks, energy companies, and key individuals close to Vladimir Putin in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea. Earlier sanctions had been placed because of Russia’s interference in US elections and cyberattacks. And with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the sanctions today are isolationist in nature and could have a crippling effect on Russian economy.
3. North Korea: A Hermit Kingdom That Never Forgives
It sounds like a script from spy thriller movies. A family dynasty running the totally totalitarian regime, citizens worshipping their leader, and nuclear missiles as national treasures. For North Korea, America is an existential threat looming over them since the Korean War in the 1950s. It’s technically still an open conflict, and for close to seven decades, North Korea has been preparing for an eventual US invasion.
What’s behind the hostility?
Decades of US-led sanctions, coupled with the North’s nuclear ambitions. Every US president, from Clinton to Trump, has tried to tame Pyongyang’s nuclear fire—some with diplomacy, others with threats. But for the North Korean regime, it’s simple: as long as America stands behind South Korea, keeping tens of thousands of troops stationed just across the border, they’ll never trust Washington.
Not to forget the China factor. This is not a vacuum, however. Its significant neighbor, China, is an essential element in ensuring the regime under Kim Jong-un remains in power. China, North Korea’s largest trade partner and strategic diplomatic ally, is, in effect, dispensing an economic lifeline at the height of US and international sanctions against Pyongyang. For Beijing, Pyongyang serves as a buffer state against American influence in the region—specifically the presence of the US military in South Korea and Japan. China usually condemns North Korea’s provocations, but it would much rather prefer a stable, even isolated North Korea, than the chaos that might erupt from a regime collapse, especially with the collapse likely to steer the peninsula into a unified, US-allied Korean nation right on its border.
Sanctions: The US has adopted comprehensive sanctions on North Korea, focusing mainly on the country’s capability of engaging in trading with any kind of trade, especially in the energy sector, mining, and other financial services. These are sanctions to reduce North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, but North Korea evades significant pressure because of China’s economic support to North Korea.
4. Iran: A Grudge That Began with a Coup
It is a historical epic with betrayal, revolution, and vengeance between the US and Iran. In all fairness, everything started to go wrong back in 1953 with a coup orchestrated by the US to oust Iran’s democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, and reinstate the Shah, an autocratic leader who was more of Washington’s favorite.
Fast forward to 1979: the Shah was overthrown, and Ayatollah Khomeini ushered in an Islamic revolution while fanned by anti-American rhetoric. For decades since then, the relationship has been frosty, punctuated by sanctions, assassinations, and proxy battles across West Asia or what’s known as the Middle East.
Most recently, the nuclear question — Iran wants to develop nuclear capabilities, the US is determined to stop it. For the Iranian government, America is still the imperialist bully trying to control their fate. Their defiance is as much about regional dominance as about rewriting their own narrative.
Sanctions: The US has imposed crippling sanctions mainly on its oil exports, which are the lifeblood of Iran’s economy. More sanctions target the Iranian banking sector and the Revolutionary Guard, with the intention of forcing Iran into stopping its nuclear development as well as its support for regional militant groups.
5. Syria: Superpowers’ Battlefield
War-battered Syria, with all its ravaged landscapes, has turned into a tragic chessboard for superpowers. In the early stages, US called for the ousting of Bashar al-Assad and supported rebel groups fighting his regime. Russia swooped in, however, to prop up Assad and has turned the war into a proxy battle between US and Russia, and also Iran.
The US intervention, intended to restrain ISIS, was compounded by claims that it is also abetting terrorist-tied rebel groups. For Assad’s regime, the US is another invader bent on deciding Syria’s fate. And as millions of Syrians are forced out of their country, many point a finger of blame at America for hastening their country’s slide into chaos.
Sanctions: Washington sanctioned the Syrian government, targeting President Bashar al-Assad’s government and the members of his household and top-ranking officials. It targeted all foreign aid going into Syria’s ports and the nation’s oil industry, looking to cut off the funds Assad could use to continue this civil war and restrict the defense of human rights.
6. Yemen: An Unseen War with U.S. Prints
One of the worst humanitarian catastrophes is occurring in Yemen, largely out of view. Although it has no ground troops there, the United States has made deep investment: in arms sales and intelligence assistance to Saudi Arabia, which is leading a coalition against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Along with this, with the US on Saudi’s side and now battling Houthis, who have occupied most of Yemen, a wave of questions about US intentions begins to roll through the minds of the civilians in Yemen. The drone strikes, which America claimed to target terrorists, also took civilian lives. This turned the tide even more against the US in public opinion. In the dark shadows of this forgotten war, Yemen sees America’s hands in its suffering and continues to harbour the quiet rage within it.
Sanctions: The US first introduced Yemen-related sanctions prior to the UN sanctions in May 2012 when Barack Obama was President, imposing asset freezes on individuals who engaged in acts that threatened the peace and security of Yemen. On January 17, 2024, the U.S. Department of State announced the designation of Ansarallah, commonly known as the Houthis, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) pursuant to an Executive Order, which targets terrorists, terrorist organizations, leaders of terrorist groups, and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism.
7. Lebanon: The War That Never Ends
Lebanon is, of course, a country in the middle, and for many Lebanese, America’s consistent support of Israel. The wounds from the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war run deep with American-made bombs that fell on Beirut cementing anti-US opinion.
Then, of course, there’s Hezbollah – Lebanon’s powerful political and militant group – which the US has designated as a terrorist organization. Hezbollah, and its supporters, sees the US as an accomplice to Lebanon’s suffering.
Sanctions: Economic sanctions imposed by the US on Lebanese banks tied to Hezbollah have only deepened the economic crisis, making life harder for everyday citizens who feel America’s influence in their daily struggle.
8. Venezuela: The Bolivarian Battle
Venezuela’s slow-motion collapse from oil-rich powerhouse to economic disaster has many pointing fingers at the US for pushing it over the edge. Once allies during much of the 20th century, the relationship soured after Hugo Chávez came to power with his socialist Bolivarian Revolution, rooted in resisting US imperialism.
Under Chávez and later under Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela took a sharp left turn, nationalising industries and expelling American businesses. Now, as Maduro holds onto power, the US supports opposition leader Juan Guaid³. For many Venezuelans, the US is portrayed as interfering in their sovereignty, increasing the suffering of their people.
Sanctions: The US has applied stringent sanctions to Venezuela’s oil sector, which constitutes almost 90 percent of Venezuela’s exports. Other sanctions focus on Venezuelan government officials, financial exchanges, and the gold mining industry, all intended to force Nicolás Maduro’s regime to resign.
9. Cuba: The Embargo That Never Ends
Few political showdowns have rivalled the saga of US-Cuba for sheer longevity. It started with the revolution headed by Fidel Castro in 1959, which overthrew the pro-US dictator Batista. The Cold War played out in Cuba through the decades that followed-from the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion through the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The U.S. has maintained a blanket embargo on the island for over 60 years. Although this thawed briefly in the Obama era, most sanctions remain in place, and Cuba’s communist government deflects much blame for its many ills onto America’s embargo. For Cuba, the US is the last lingering accretion of a disastrous attempt at imperial control over Latin America. And so long as that embargo remains in place, the anger persists.
Sanctions: The US has maintained some of the world’s longest and most severe sanctions on this nation since 1962, imposing a comprehensive economic embargo that has curtailed all sorts of trade, travel, and financial transactions. Although somewhat eased by Obama, Trump and Biden have reinforced most of the sanctions and have indeed worsened the economic situation in the country especially through targeting Cuban tourism and remittances.
10. Belarus: The Last Dictator’s Last Stand
Belarus is often called “Europe’s last dictatorship”, and its president, Alexander Lukashenko, doesn’t take kindly to American interference. After his controversial election win in 2020, which the US and other Western powers called fraudulent, Belarus saw massive protests. USA threw its weight behind the opposition, sanctioning Lukashenko and his allies.
These US democracy actions are therefore perceived by Belarus as rather an indirect way to undermine the region’s autocratic stronghold that it closely depends on Russia. Not in America’s stead, Belarus perceives this meddling in their affairs not as freedom advocacy but as an assault on its sovereignty, which makes it even more skeptical towards the West.
In response to the presidential election, Donald Trump requested Congress to introduce the sanctions imposed on President Alexander Lukashenko, his inner circle, and state-run enterprises in Belarus. These sanctions are intended to assist the country’s opposition and pressure the regime for human rights abuses and suppression of democracy.
While the story of each country is unique and different from America’s, the tension is similar: the superpower with global reach often leaves imprints to its actions-sometimes building alliances and sometimes long-standing rivalries.
Sanctions: The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on 19 persons, 14 entities, and one aircraft. Their inclusion comprises individuals and entities whom OFAC found had been involved in the militarisation of Ukraine by producing military resources and transshipping goods into Russia. It also penalises those who are escaping the sanctions while amassing revenues for Belarusian oligarchs.
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indiatodayglobal
Published On:
Sep 20, 2024
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Publish date : 2024-09-20 05:59:00
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