The United Nations Security Council’s renewal of the list of 22 senior officials of the current Afghan government and the imposition of travel and asset freezes on them is, in fact, a repetition of an old approach that has repeatedly proven its failure over the past two decades. Such measures, which are largely carried out for political pressure, will prove to be not only ineffective but also indicative of the impotence of international organizations when compared to the actual realities.
These sanctions are imposed, while the current government leaders, unlike the previous officials, do not have personal bank accounts or any other assets in foreign countries. When someone’s wealth is within the country and among their own people, the ban on freezing assets abroad only has a propaganda aspect and cannot have any negative impact on the lives and activities of these officials in practice.
These restrictions on travel also do not make sense logically. The top-tier leaders and ministers of the government are mostly engaged in internal management and strengthening the system, and they do not see much need for foreign trips. They spend all their time on the reconstruction and security of the country, so the travel ban is not a major challenge for them, nor does it prevent them from doing their work.
Another important point is that the current system’s diplomacy machine is skillfully run from a single authority. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in constant contact with the world, and all matters related to foreign countries are properly handled through this ministry. This means that there is no serious need for physical trips by other ministers, and the diplomatic gap is completely filled.
The UN list is also ineffective due to another interesting point, which is that second-tier officials and technical teams travel freely and achieve significant accomplishments. When technical tasks are carried out by individuals not included on the list, the ban on first-degree officials’ names becomes merely symbolic, having no impact on the daily affairs of the government.
If the sanctions imposed by the United Nations and some countries had any benefit or impact, they would have shown results in the past years. The truth is that such measures are not a solution because these officials do not have investments abroad, nor can their actions be prevented in this way. The world needs to choose the path of constructive engagement and acceptance of realities instead of the failed experience of sanctions.
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