The United States opened talks with Cuba by first threatening economic strangulation. Washington framed it as leverage. Havana called it coercion. The distinction matters: negotiations conducted under explicit threat produce agreements that last only as long as the threat does.
Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s visit to Washington was the most consequential meeting between a Syrian leader and an American president in decades. It signals a potential reset — but the conditions attached, and the history behind them, counsel caution before calling it a breakthrough.
Sanctions, tariffs, export controls, debt diplomacy — economic tools have always had geopolitical uses. What has changed is the scale and precision. The United States weaponises the dollar. China weaponises supply chains. Trade is no longer just commerce.
