Sanctions, Real and Imaginary: Experiences with Russia in the Ukraine Crisis

Abstract

This article identifies untapped potential for creative combinations within the sanctions arsenal, but also substantial long-term risks threatening to undermine the very global financial and trading infrastructure that renders Western sanctioning power effective in the first place. It introduces multi-party sanctions against Russia and the Russian response thereto, analysing how sanctions were aided by three unusual prongs: the damage potential of a SWIFT blockade, the devastating effect of the post-2014 oil price drop, and the consideration of using debt sanctions. It then examines defensive measures taken by Russia and others that aim at undermining the effectiveness of future Western sanctions.