Caught in the middle of a sanctions cunadrum, a Turkish business man was arrested in Miami and charged with helping a Venezuela state-run oil company. The Turkish businessman, Taskin Torlak, who is 37, was arrested while attempting to return to Turkey. It is alleged that Toral, operated by several companies involved in the shipment of sanctioned oil, with this action beginning in 2020. Toral additionally allegedly started working with other co-conspirators and companies, unknown at this point, from various countries such as Ukraine, China, Indonesia, and ect. to transport Venezuela’s crude oil while the U.S. continues sanctions against Venezuelan oil aimed at removing the current President, Nicolas Maduro. The sanctions started on Venezuela following Maduro’s first reelection in 2018, and because of the reelection of his third, six-year term, the U.S. responded with another round of sauntions.
This isn’t so much an issue between Turkey and the United States, but rather an ongoing political game between Venezuela and the United States. Tensions continue to rise as Venezuela’s recent election demonstrated evidence of the election being stolen, and U.S. officials accused Venezuela of obstructing the vote and carrying out human rights abuses, thus leading to the sanctions. These sanctions, not only followed by the United States, but its allies as well. that is why many co-conspirators and companies were from countries like Ukraine, China, Indonesia, and elsewhere, where the United States doesn’t have as many political ties to or economic alliances. This is just an example of the split that is present in the global arena, those that are falling under the Status Quo power of the United States, and the revisionist states that continue to rise in power, in hopes of one day reaching status quo status.
This event can be categorized as a reason because of the International System. The International System is the way power is distributed around the globe and the nodes from which that power emanates from. This is additionally tied to polarity, the number of powers or nodes that exist in the international system. In this current moment of international affairs, the United States continues to serve as a Status quo power, but yet with an increase of rising economic countries and political powers, this polarity might shift. This skirting of sanctions just shows that some countries don’t want to follow the United States and their policies anymore. This is seen as no longer profitable or rewarding for some of the countries that were beating around the sanctions of crude oil. With the rise of countries such as China, who were involved indirectly in this controversy, the international system may shift into a bipolar or even multipolar system if the United States foreign policy shifts as well. This time of a new election and global events that pull in every direction, the future of our international system is left up to question.