McDonald’s, Apple, Mastercard, and Coca-Cola are just a few of the thousands of companies that have recently closed shop in Russia. These corporate actions come as the United States, its partners, and other nations have imposed economic sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Through coordinated effort, sanctions are targeting every aspect of Russian life (full list available on the Brookings Sanctions Tracker, which Matthew Eitel of AHS-Indiana helped design). The Russian economy, which depends on imports earned through energy sales abroad, now suffers limited access to foreign consumer goods and advanced technologies, as well as markets for its energy products. Equally significant, Russian banks have been expelled from SWIFT, excluding them from Western-based financial services. Sanctions can advance various goals, but the “compellent factor” is most relevant here: to inflict enough damage on the Russian economy that Putin is compelled to end the war in Ukraine.
It is unclear, however, whether sanctions can influence Putin to abandon his war of aggression. Other nations — Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, and Venezuela — face Western economic sanctions but have persisted in malign behaviours sanctions were meant to discourage or punish. Scholars of sanctions say that while their results are mixed, sanctions most often succeed when they are attached to specific, attainable policy goals. Russia has also been the subject of limited sanctions since its seizure of Crimea in 2014. Unlike other targets of Western sanctions, Russia is a great power with a major position in the world economy and many means of retaliating against the West short of war. As Ukrainian citizens battle for their homeland, a test of economic endurance between Russia and the West is taking shape. Will the tightening vise of sanctions induce Russia to negotiate a solution to the conflict it started, or will price inflation and energy disruptions roil the West and upend its efforts?
Questions and Background
- Would imposing harsher sanctions against Russia during its military buildup this fall have deterred it from invading Ukraine?
- Sanctions inflict severe humanitarian costs. Will the suffering of ordinary Russians sap Putin’s popularity, or rally Russians together through their collective pain?
- What are the objectives of Western sanctions? Is crippling Russia’s war effort or overturning its regime realistic, or should sanctions aim to restart serious diplomacy with Russia?
What Are Economic Sanctions?
Council on Foreign Relations Backgrounder
Putin accidentally revitalized the West’s liberal order
Kori Schake, AEI, February 28, 2022.
Can Sanctions Stop Russia?
Annie Lowrey. The Atlantic, March 10, 2022.
Boycotts, Not Bombs: Sanctions Are a Go-To Tactic, With Uneven Results
Ella Koeze, The New York Times, March 11, 2022.