After more than three decades of international isolation and years of devastating sanctions, many Iranians embrace the prospect of peace and friendlier ties with the US.
Iraq's first civil war developed after decades of authoritarianism, warfare and devastating sanctions destroyed Iraqi society, and after the 2003 American invasion dismantled the Iraqi state without a plan for swift reconstruction.
On July 23rd, the NCAA at last proved itself willing to stand up to one of its cash cows, when it levied a series of devastating sanctions against the football team at Pennsylvania State University (PSU), following a widely publicised paedophilia scandal.
A year and a half since the breakdown of talks over Iran's contested nuclear program and the imposition of devastating economic sanctions, Iran has returned to the negotiating table.
More importantly, the destruction of Iraq's economy and civil society - which began a full decade before the 2003 invasion with the 1991 Gulf War and a decade of devastating economic sanctions - and the ensuing carnage are almost never viewed through the lens of more than 40 years of US global policy that preceded the Iraq occupation and indeed laid the groundwork for the present reality.
Rather than encourage these developments, Israel and the international community imposed devastating financial sanctions which forced Gaza and Hamas into what the then-UN Special Rapporteur for the Middle East Peace Process termed "survival mode".
Across much of the Balkans, industries and mines are rotting, devastated by sanctions, war damage or neglect; many of them will never be reconstructed.
Others were far more cautious, and many Western officials believe that the crisis in Syria's economy, which has been devastated by sanctions, may prove more decisive than diplomatic pressure.
Many Iraqis accepted the invasion as a necessary evil to get rid of Saddam and bring an end to devastating UN economic sanctions.
The author is devastating on how government sanctioned commercial secrecy about chemicals and toxins is preventing proper analytics and harming the public interest.
