December 18, 2014
COLUMN-Russia Sanctions: Beware the Blowback
In recent days, the U.S. Congress has moved aggressively to increase the economic pain inflicted on Russia in punishment for its brazen destabilization of easternUkraine and Crimea.
Legislators are attempting to up the ante with Moscow by passing new laws to penalize foreign banks and energy companies for doing business in several Russian economic sectors.
The desire to inflict more economic difficulty on Russia is understandable. By imposing pain on Russia, the United States and the European Union can try to force Moscow to change its aggressive behavior toward its neighbors.
But the new sanctions may not be as effective as Congress hopes, and President Barack Obama should be reluctant to enforce the penalties aggressively, as doing so would have serious consequences for the United States and its partners abroad.
Read the full op-ed at Reuters.
More from CNAS
-
Strange Debacle: Misadventures In Assessing Russian Military Power
Commentary
Russia’s botched invasion of Ukraine has befuddled most defense analysts and Russia experts....
By Chris Dougherty
-
Sharper: The Authoritarianism Challenge
Commentary
Autocratic leadership is on the rise globally. Even in democratic nations, leaders are eroding checks on their power and weakening institutions. The use of illiberal technolog...
By Anna Pederson
-
Can Ukraine’s Military Keep Winning?
Commentary
Ukraine’s military has undergone a radical transformation over the past eight years, thanks to intensive reorganization and reform efforts and billions of dollars in Western s...
By Margarita "Rita" Konaev & Polina Beliakova
-
Is Russia Better Off Without Putin? The Answer is Changing.
Commentary
To figure out whether we would be better off without Putin, though, we first need to weigh something else: How would Putin’s departure from power affect Russia? Would a leader...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Erica Frantz
