The U.S. Treasury has announced that it will release what it describes as the “financial equivalent,” of a military campaign on Iran, threatening to cut off any bank, company, or country that continues doing business with the U.S. adversary. Warning letters have already landed on the desks of financial institutions across three continents.  

The move is an example of ‘economic warfare,’ in which the tools of commerce and trade are used as leverage over those running afoul of U.S. and its allies. For global businesses, this means operating legally under another country’s law is no longer sufficient legal protection.  

Our guest Juan Zarate, former Deputy National Security Advisor, spent a decade inside the machine by building the sanctions architecture at OFAC, establishing the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and leading the global effort to seize Saddam Hussein’s assets. However, he warns this powerful tool of statecraft also provides incentives for U.S. rivals to work outside the system, a movement that is growing.  

Raising the question: Should the U.S. Treasury be an agency of national security?

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