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(Crowd protesting the war in Ukrainian) credit given to the Foreign Policy news to the source can be found here
The Russian Invasion of the nation of Ukraine began in February of this year, with the Russian President announcing the start of a "special Operation". The Special Operation has been called a lie and should be known as an invasion and attempted takeover of the Ukrainian nation. The International community saw the "Special Operation" as an invasion of a sovereign nation, and many nations reacted by immediately condemning the Russian military invasion as unprovoked and with reason. The International community while using their words as weapons, also used an economic weapon known as sanctions. Sanctions are defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as being "actions taken by a country or organization against the economy of another country, such as refusing to trade with it, in order to force it to obey a law or a set of rules". The International sanctions are in place to try and hurt the Russian economy and drive the Russian Government to the negotiating table to at least stall Russia's ability to wage war on another nation. The Sanctions are also being heavily targeted at military goods such as technologies and components needed for military weapons, the hope of the military sanctions is to stop the Russian military infrastructure from rebuilding its military losses.
Are the Sanctions working?
The Sanctions that are imposed on Russia are some of the strongest the Russian nation has ever felt, however, the Russian economy has for the moment weathered the storm of Sanctions very well. The reason the Russian nation has been able to weather the on-slot of sanction is because of many different reasons, however, in an NPR article written December 6, by Paddy Hirsch (National Public Radio), it was pointed out by Bruegel, A Brussels based Economic think tank, that the Russian economy has been able to survive because of the Russian Central Bank and its so-called "fortress Policy". The Fortress policy being used by the Russian Central bank has been aimed at protecting the Russian financial system and better building up protections that would help if the nation ever fell under crippling Foreign Sanctions.
The Russian Central Bank as of December 6 had over $300 billion in foreign holdings. The Incredibly large and unexpected amount of foreign holdings is helping to prop up the economy and keep it standing. The Russian Central Bank, while losing access to the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) central banking system, has still been able to get the cash they need to operate, they are getting this cash through other financial channels that interact with the world.
As the world believes the Sanctions are making an impact, it has yet to be seen. As Russia is set to see a 40% increase in its exports such as oil, coal, and other resources. Clearly, the Sanctions are falling short of their intended reaction. Even if the Sanctions are falling short they are still having an impact, as they are still limiting the Russian government and making it more difficult for the military to get its needed ammunition and try to replenish the military losses.
Jarin Clapp
Senior Writer with the Poudre Press, a head writer with the OCR news
"Operation Copper Rain started with a dream of making news that was real-time, unbiased news, that could be easily accessed by readers all over the world. With an ongoing mission to uncover facts and find trusted resources, Operation Copper Rain is committed to providing the global population with the latest updates and thought-provoking news. "
References
Bruegel. n.d. Bruegel. Accessed December 6, 2022. https://www.bruegel.org/.
“ECONOMIC SANCTIONS definition | Cambridge English Dictionary.” 2022. Cambridge Dictionary. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/economic-sanctions.
Hirsch, Paddy. 2022. “Why The Sanctions Against Russia Aren't Working. Yet.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2022/12/06/1140120485/why-the-sanctions-against-russia-arent-working-yet.
Cambridge Dictionary
NPR (National Public Radio)
Bruegel Brussels Think tank
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