  Studies built on dependency and world-system theory using network approaches
have shown that international trade is structured into clusters of 'core' and
'peripheral' countries performing distinct functions. However, few have used
these methods to investigate how sanctions affect the position of the countries
involved in the capitalist world-economy. Yet, this topic has acquired pressing
relevance due to the emergence of economic warfare as a key geopolitical weapon
since the 1950s. And even more so in light of the preeminent role that
sanctions have played in the US and their allies' response to the
Russian-Ukrainian war. Applying several clustering techniques designed for
complex and temporal networks, this paper shows that a shift in the pattern of
commerce away from sanctioning countries and towards neutral or friendly ones.
Additionally, there are suggestions that these shifts may lead to the creation
of an alternative 'core' that interacts with the world-economy's periphery
bypassing traditional 'core' countries such as EU member States and the US.
