Peiman Salehi – Political Analyst & Writer

Author: Peiman Salehi*
*Originally published on: geopolitika.ru

Peiman Salehi

In 2025, sanctions have evolved beyond being mere instruments of economic pressure. They have become tools of civilizational warfare—targeting not only material capacities, but also the symbolic foundations, cultural identities, and political legitimacy of non-Western societies. What was once labeled “maximum pressure” is now more accurately a form of epistemic aggression, where the goal is not simply regime change but the erosion of civilizational selfhood. This commentary argues that sanctions today form part of a broader ideological offensive aimed at preserving Western hegemony in an increasingly multipolar and culturally diverse global order.

From Syria to Sub-Saharan Africa: Sanctions as Civilizational Punishment

In December 2024, the Assad regime fell, and Syria entered a transitional phase, with Ahmad al-Shar’a—former leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham—declared interim president. However, this power shift did not result in the easing of sanctions. Instead, it revealed a deeper logic behind sanctions: they are not merely directed at specific regimes, but at broader principles of autonomy, resistance, and rejection of Western dependency.

In Iran, although diplomatic talks took place in April 2025 between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. envoy Steven Witkoff in Muscat, no meaningful signs of sanctions relief have emerged. This suggests that the issue is not simply policy-related, but civilizational. For the United States, Iran and its ideological allies in the Resistance Axis represent a challenge not just to political norms but to the liberal international order itself. Consequently, a lasting agreement with Iran appears unlikely—unless Iran undergoes a profound transformation in identity and worldview.

In Palestine, sanctions and blockades intensified after 2024, targeting not only resistance groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad but also the broader infrastructure of sovereignty in Gaza. These measures are less about security and more about breaking the symbolic backbone of resistance. Similar patterns can be observed in Sub-Saharan Africa, where countries like Zimbabwe, Mali, and South Sudan are sanctioned ostensibly for governance failures, but in truth for defying liberal developmental orthodoxy.

Neocolonialism Repackaged: Sanctions as Symbolic Violence

Sanctions today serve as more than coercive tools—they act as neocolonial instruments of moral and symbolic control. They operate through a form of symbolic violence, delegitimizing alternative value systems by controlling access not only to economic resources, but also to cultural production, digital infrastructure, and epistemic platforms. From banning books and freezing academic exchanges to demonizing defiant identities in global media, sanctions monopolize the authority to define reality. In this way, they function as an assault on meaning itself—a strategy to make resistance appear irrational, illegitimate, or obsolete.
Why Liberal Empires Fear Cultural Resistance

The liberal international order, increasingly devoid of moral coherence, no longer fears armies—it fears narratives. States and movements that question the epistemological supremacy of the West—whether in Iran, Venezuela, Russia, or Palestine—are seen not only as political threats but as civilizational anomalies. Sanctions are thus deployed as preemptive strikes—not for what these actors do, but for what they are. They represent ontological warfare, targeting the being and symbolic presence of civilizations that propose different visions of law, justice, and world order.

What Resistance Requires: Reclaiming the Language of Sovereignty

Confronting sanctions requires more than policy reforms or economic resilience. It demands epistemic resistance—the ability to define, frame, and narrate one’s reality independently of Western scripting. This involves reclaiming the language of morality, sovereignty, and dignity. The Global South must counter sanctions not only with material strategies, but with a coherent civilizational identity that denies the West its exclusive right to define what constitutes legitimacy, progress, or human value. Narrative sovereignty is not a luxury—it is a prerequisite for geopolitical independence.

Conclusion: Sanctions in the Age of Postmodern Empire

In 2025, sanctions have become instruments of postmodern imperialism. They no longer merely starve economies; they aim to strip cultures of meaning, reduce sovereign states to managed zones, and normalize a world in which only liberal narratives are allowed to survive. Understanding sanctions as civilizational warfare is the first step toward resisting them—not only with economic policy, but with cultural confidence, moral clarity, and strategic storytelling.