At a time when the US is reluctant or unable to project military might to back up its foreign-policy goals, it is seeking to use financial might as a surrogate. The effort might induce a financial backlash in the future, but BNP’s problems emerged when effective sanctions were at the forefront of policymakers’ minds – and, one suspects, not absent from prosecutors’ minds.
在美国不愿或无力投射其军事力量以支持其外交政策目标的时候，它就会转而使用金融工具。这一措施可能在未来激起反对，但巴黎银行事件却是在政策制定者满脑子都想着如何实施有效制裁的时候浮出水面——同时也可以猜测，检察官脑子里也有类似的想法。