Barely two weeks ago, most Russians enjoyed relatively prosperous, consumerist lives, with access to goods and services familiar to anyone in the West.
But Russia’s so-called special military operation in Ukraine has stirred up a blizzard of economic penalties in response. Amid that storm, Russians’ place in the interconnected global economy seems about to end.
How Sanctions on Russia Will Upend the Global Order
The Russian-Ukrainian war of 2022 is not just a major geopolitical event but also a geoeconomic turning point. Western sanctions are the toughest measures ever imposed against a state of Russia’s size and power. In the space of less than three weeks, the United States and its allies have cut major Russian banks off from the global financial system; blocked the export of high-tech components in unison with Asian allies; seized the overseas assets of hundreds of wealthy oligarchs; revoked trade treaties with Moscow; banned Russian airlines from North Atlantic airspace: restricted Russian oil sales to the United States and United Kingdom; blocked all foreign investment in the Russian economy from their jurisdiction; and frozen $403 billion out of the $630 billion in foreign assets of the Central Bank of Russia. The overall effect has been unprecedented, and a few weeks ago would have seemed unimaginable even to most experts: in all but its most vital products, the world’s eleventh-largest economy has now been decoupled from twenty-first-century globalization.
By now, it’s no secret: The Russian military is experiencing logistical difficulties in Ukraine—from the now-infamous stalled convoy outside Kyiv to reports of Russian soldiers looting grocery stores for food. Experts have debated whether the problem is due to corruption, poor planning, or both.
A discussion with American and European experts on the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for European security and defense policy.
The conventional wisdom in Washington is that NATO should refrain from enforcing a No-Fly Zone over Ukraine due to the risk of an all-out NATO-Russia war. This view reflects a decades-long misunderstanding of both Russia and Ukraine, and is mired in appeasement thinking. While the window to impose a No-Fly Zone has likely closed, there are still alternatives that could work. The West should implement them without delay.
Refugee agency praises neighboring countries’ compassion for ‘extreme plight’ of refugees; most of those who crossed borders to escape have entered Poland
Nearly 3.5 million Ukrainians have now fled the country following Russia’s invasion, the United Nations said Monday, praising neighboring countries for showing overwhelming compassion toward their “extreme plight.”
The big question is what else Russia has up its sleeve, but may be running out of some other munitions. It has used cruise and other types of surface-to-surface missiles.
With Russian supply columns being struck by Ukrainian artillery and Ukrainian drones still flying, harassing Russia’s invasion, Moscow has turned to a new weapon to show that it, too, has unique capabilities.
Following its invasion of Ukraine several weeks ago, Russia’s once-feared military has faced fierce resistance.
Some experts believe that Russia may have overreached, as it has struggled to make the quick progress it expected to and has reportedly lost a slew of high-profile military figures.
“We have no communication. We don’t have walkie-talkies. Nothing,” a bedraggled Russian soldier tells his interrogators in another of the videos published by Ukrainian defenders this month posted to YouTube.
The stakes in Ukraine are far higher than most people imagine, Aleksandr Skobov says. Putin’s war there is “only part of his global war against the fundamental principles of civilized relations among states,” and that means any agreement with him that accepts any of his demands will mark the end of the West and the world it created.