US’ Threats of Economic Sanctions Sign of Weakness: Belgian Analyst

“We have observed the evolution from a bipolar world, to a unipolar world after the Soviet Union’s demise, and from a unipolar world to a multipolar world, with China now as a new rising power. Also, the economic, political and military realities have totally changed. So, it is about evolution in space and time,” Kris Janssen, independent researcher and analyst and expert on Middle East and North Africa who specializes in Syria and Iran shared his views on the decline of the United Sates in an interview with the secretariat of the 2nd International Conference on the Decline of the United States: The Post-American World.

“There are other political actors with regional political and economic influence, for example, Turkey and Saudi Arabia,” he said. “There is also Iran which has become a regional superpower and a diplomatic hub in the Middle East region”

“Since the Islamic Revolution of Iran, this country has made a huge step forward in almost every field from economy, diplomacy, politics, culture to science,” Janssen said.

‎“We see a multitude of political, economic and military agreements,” Janssen maintained. “We have ‎China’s Belt and Road initiative and Nord Stream gas projects--1 and 2-- from Russia to Germany. ‎We also saw the admission of Iran to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. And as a result, we ‎see the growing demise of the United States as a superpower.”‎

Janssen talked about the demise of the United States, not only politically, but also economically, ‎noting that the United States is heavily in debt.‎

‎“In this new context, Iran has built diplomatic and economic agreements with both China and ‎Russia, and also with its direct neighbors and other new economic and political rising powers, as for ‎example, Turkey, India, and Pakistan,” he stated, adding, “Iran is also a brotherly nation with ‎historical ties to Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and other nations in the region. So we can clearly state that ‎Iran should be considered as a regional superpower on its own.”‎

‎“A brotherly nation means one step ahead, because of cultural or religious connections between the ‎states like Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and also other states, in the region,” he believed.‎

‎“The United States’ lead over the world is finished,” Janssen stressed. “The world has changed, and ‎the train to multipolar world cannot be stopped. I see the new situation in the world and the demise ‎of the United States everywhere from the political field to the economic and military fields.”‎

‎“The Americans always go to war, because they have gone broke economically,” he asserted. “They ‎have to use their huge military industry, so they need to wage wars to sell these weapons ‎worldwide.”‎

‎“We saw division in the American population,” Janssen pointed out, “and according to the then-‎President, Trump, if there is one thing which unites a society, it is a war. So, if countries engage in ‎wars, the population unites.”‎

‎“Before the crisis in Syria,” he said, “the United States thought that it can do everything in the region ‎and in the world without punishment. They attacked Afghanistan; they attacked Iraq; they have ‎bases everywhere in the Middle East. It was like nothing could stop them. But I think Syria was a ‎turning point because not only Syria, but a lot of countries like Iran and Russia decided to stop this ‎American imperialism.”‎

‎“The purpose of the American administration was to destroy Syria and to have a regime change, a ‎little bit like what happened in Iraq,” Janssen further said. “But the supporters of Syria, especially ‎Iran and Russia, draw a line there saying enough is enough. And they stopped America’s plan to ‎destroy Iraq and change the country's regime.”‎

‎“There is still a small area in Syria, which is occupied by American troops,” he continued. “What is ‎the reason they are there? Trump was very open about it. He said to steal the oil. And that’s what ‎we see now.”‎

‎ “The United States' threats with economic sanctions are also a sign of weakness,” Janssen argued. ‎‎“They know that they’re not on top of the world order anymore. Militarily speaking, we see huge ‎progress in China, and also in Iran whose military is really becoming stronger. So, we see the ‎change from military aggression to economic aggression and sanctions everywhere. But I think with ‎all these new initiatives, American sanctions will become weaker. At a certain point, countries like ‎Iran won’t need America. They can deal with India, Pakistan, China or Russia.”‎

‎“American empire becomes weaker and weaker over time. Also, the dollar or its role in the world ‎economy will become weaker,” he said, adding, “and I think a lot of states will look for other ‎alternatives, like Iran which exports petroleum products to China, and China sending consumer ‎goods to Iran in exchange. There’s also a possibility of currency change. So, in the future, there will ‎be no reason to use dollar and it will not be imperative anymore. There will be other mechanisms ‎for trade between countries, like direct exchange of products, but also you can trade goods using ‎another currency.”‎

‎“The reason why the dollar is so prominent in the world economy or the world trade is because ‎America was the superpower, who had everything to say,” Janssen further said. “But I think if we ‎see the power of the United States diminish, the dollar’s importance will also decrease. The debts of ‎the United States are so huge that we can say, in fact, the United States is bankrupt. But for the ‎outside world, they keep up appearances.”‎

‎“Iran exported oil to Venezuela and Lebanon. It is not that the United States didn’t want to stop it, ‎rather they couldn’t stop it,” Janssen concluded. “Hezbollah made it clear that the moment the oil is ‎on the ship and the ship is leaving, we consider it Lebanese territory. So if you attack one of these ‎ships, you know the consequences. It is the same with Venezuela, and with trade between Iran and ‎China. Here you also see the weakness of the United States where they wanted to stop it if they ‎could, even with military force, but they couldn’t because they know that the consequences will be ‎so huge. So, it is a sign of the weakness of the United States.”‎

The 2nd International Conference on the Decline of the United States: The Post-American World ‎will be held on November 2, 2021, by Imam Hussein Comprehensive University and the ‎Secretariat of the Expediency Discernment Council, in cooperation with the universities and ‎research institutes.

For more information, interested parties may see the conference website at ‎www.usdecline.ir and the virtual pages of the conference secretariat on social media at @usdecline.‎