Powerful countries that bully weaker ones and target non-combatants are bound to invite a strong response. In the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine, any direct Western military action can essentially be ruled out. (The Cold War concept of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) is still in play if it involves a direct conflict with Russia.) This has led many to call for wide-ranging financial sanctions and restrictions to be imposed on Russia.
The decision to remove several Russian banks from the SWIFT financial messaging system and sanction the country’s central bank has been popular among the general public but has raised concerns on Wall Street. Further sanctions on Russian commodity exports might roil the global market and further fuel the inflationary dynamics that have caused food and energy prices to skyrocket in recent months. Potentially destabilizing consequences for the emerging and developing world cannot be ruled…
