Going it Alone — Reading Room

How the U.S. learned to deploy hard-hitting economic strikes against its enemies — even when its allies were reluctant to join in. |  |   
---  
|  |  |   
---  
|   
---  
|   
---  
|   
---  
| 

#### Cover Story | February 26th, 2025  
  
---  
|   
---  
|  **Good afternoon.**  In his new book _Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare_ , Edward Fishman details the rise of "the sanctions technocrats" in Washington and how they earned respect from the national security community time and again. "The sanctions technocrat," he writes, "was to economic warfare what generals and admirals were to military conflict: they developed plans of attack, sought their leaders’ approval, and commanded the troops accordingly." In this excerpt, he shows how the plan of attack against Iranian banks set the stage for the first Trump administration's unilateral strike against Huawei — and eventually all of China.  
---  
|  |  |  |  |  |   
---  
|  |   
---  
|  |   
---  
|   
---  
|   
---  
_Illustration by Luis Grañena_  
|  **Going it Alone** How the U.S. learned to deploy hard-hitting economic strikes against its enemies — even when its allies were reluctant to join in.  
---  
|   
---  
|   
---  
|  Subscribe today for unlimited access.  
Starting at only $19 a month.   _Was this email forwarded to you?_  
Sign up to receive our free newsletter.   Click here to view this email in your browser.  
   
---  
|  Subscribe  
---  
|   
---  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |   
---  
|  |   
---  
|  |   
---  
|   
---  
|   
---  
|  Want to change how you receive these emails?  
You can unsubscribe from this list.  
  
The Wire  
153 West 27th Street, Suite 1202  
New York, NY 10001   
---  
|  © 2025 The Wire  
---  
  
  
  
  
  
  
|  This email was sent to stephen.shu.zhang@gmail.com   
_why did I get this?_    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences   
The Wire China * 153 West 27th Street * Suite 1202 * New York, New York 10001 * USA   
  
  
---  
  
͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏