President Obama issued orders imposing economic sanctions against Russia. Russia responded in kind by imposing entry bans of American legislators among them Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Obama senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer and the president’s deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes.
President Obama issued a series of economic sanctions against Russia in retaliation of its military incursion and annexation of Crimea.
Economic sanctions are used as a tool of foreign policy by many governments. Economic sanctions are usually imposed by a larger country upon a smaller country for one of the two reasons – either the latter is a threat to the security of the former nation or that country treats its citizens unfairly. They can be used as a coercive measure for achieving particular policy goals related to trade or for humanitarian violations. Economic sanctions are used as an alternative weapon instead of going to war to achieve desired outcomes.
Some analysts I’ve talked with believe imposing economic restrictions only serves to hurt ordinary people.
The sanctions in this case specifically targeted businesses, banks and members of the Russian government, including Putin’s chief of staff.
By doing so President Obama is engaging in a type of economic “warfare” against Russia. One that could cost Russia hundreds of billions of dollars, or in this case “Rubles” – excuse me.
While not typically recognized as an act of war in the traditional sense – economic sanctions are designed to cause great damage and harm to the Russian economy – in much the same way as a bomb going off in a major city would. Were talking about real people and real casualties, financially speaking.
Warfare can also be defined as:
“Conflict, especially when vicious and unrelenting, between competitors, political rivals, etc”, according to Webster’s dictionary.
One low level State Department official who requested not to be named in this report said “such a move is a consequence of Russia’s decision to send troops into Crimea.”
Which is a broad oversimplification of what happened in the chaos and confusion that followed the ouster of President Yanukovych in what was essentially a “coup” within the Ukrainian government after violent clashes between riot police and protesters on the streets of Kiev. This resulted in hundreds of people being killed and thousands more being seriously wounded in the process.
In this type of situation the potential for the entire country to explode in violence is a real possibility.
It should also be understood that Russia didn’t cause this situation, but it did react to it.
It acted because it had a number of legitimate military and national security concerns here.
Crimea is the location of the entire Russian “Black Fleet”. It is a major military hub for the Russian Navy – and it is one of the largest naval bases in the world.
In fact you have Russian submarines going in and out carrying nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons in the form of Sea Launched Ballistic Missiles (or SBLMs). These are tactical nuclear weapons capable of obliterating major cities and killing tens of millions of human beings. So were talking some very serious stuff.
In addition you have hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens, their dependents and relatives in Ukraine – which was once a part of the Soviet Union. There are close social and cultural bonds here between the two people.
So the question becomes how are you going to evacuate these people or at the least protect them in the event of a civil war?
Under the Russian Constitution President Putin has an obligation to protect and defend Russian citizen living in Russia and abroad.
So suggesting that the Russians had no legal or international rights to intervene in this crisis, when the lives of Russian citizens are at risk and danger is to not fully grasp the complexities of this situation.
And no matter how you slice it – President Obama decision to engage in economic sanctions is a serious escalation of tensions in the region.
It’s also an act of war.
Russia retaliated swiftly to the news of Obama imposing economic sanctions by imposing entry bans on American lawmakers and senior White House officials, among them Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Obama senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer and the president’s deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes – in what seems like a tit for tat response to the economic sanctions being imposed.
See article: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/03/17/president-obama-announces-new-ukraine-related-sanctions
See article: EU and White House Impose Sanctions Against Russian Officials Over Crimea Referendum. Read more here: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-white-house-impose-sanctions-against-russian-officials-140957522.html
See article: Is it enough? Obama imposes sanctions on Russian officials over Crimea. Read more here: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/03/17/visa-bans-asset-freezes-among-possible-sanctions-against-russia/
See related article: Pentagon preps for economic warfare. Read more here:http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21053.html