Imperialism
Israel
Palestine
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,[1] fair use.
It’s a start:
The decision [to declare West Bank settlements illegal] — which was also announced at the White House — was in immediate response to reports that the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was planning further settlement expansion, according to a U.S. official, one of several who discussed the decision on the condition of anonymity under administration rules.[2]
Mehul Srivastava, Neri Zilber, and Heba Saleh, “Israel unveils plan for complete postwar control of Gaza,” Financial Times, February 23, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/063495e8-645c-4cec-8b8e-290fdc32044f
John Hudson and Karen DeYoung, “White House reverses West Bank policy, calling Israeli settlements illegal,” Washington Post, February 23, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/02/23/israel-west-bank-settlements-illegal/
Russia
Ukraine
Fig. 2. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[3] fair use.
I’ve mostly stopped paying attention to the sanctions. Because they don’t work.
Russia has faced a historic slew of penalties from Washington, Brussels and beyond since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The punishments, chiefly economic sanctions, were designed in large part to drain Russia’s coffers so it would struggle to fund its war. And more pain has been promised as both the U.S. and EU unveiled new sanctions against Russia this week, some tied to the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Yet, two years on, Russia’s economy has rebounded. Its factories are humming, its oil and gas sales are relatively strong and its people are at work in a system retrofitted to be all about the war. Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, appears firmly in charge of the Kremlin, despite hopes that Russia’s elite would turn on him as the economic pressure grew.[4]
The claim is simply that I lack patience, that the tricks Moscow has pulled to keep afloat are unsustainable.[5]
But you know what? I’ve seen this movie before. A whole bunch of times. The targeted oligarchs may grumble,[6] but sanctions don’t work. The question for me is whether the West will ever get serious about Russia. Considering the difficulty in doing what it has done so far, I’m not holding my breath.
“Sanctions alone are not enough to carry Ukraine to victory,” Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo told reporters Thursday before new penalties were announced, adding that the “only way” the Ukrainian people will be successful “is if the House and if Congress provides them with the financial resources, but also the equipment they need to continue to defend themselves.”
Meanwhile, it’s anyone’s guess when the Russian economic machine will stop working, and there’s a question as to whether it is now incentivized to keep the war in Ukraine going.[7]
You shouldn’t be holding your breath either.
Nahal Toosi et al., “The West tried to crush Russia’s economy. Why hasn’t it worked?” Politico, February 24, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/24/russia-economy-west-sanctions-00142713
Pennsylvania
Cannabis
There is a glimmer of hope. Not much of one, but a glimmer.
Stephen Caruso and Kate Huangpu, “What to know about Shapiro’s pitch to legalize marijuana, its chances in the Pa. legislature and more,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, February 24, 2024, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/what-to-know-about-shapiros-pitch-to-legalize-marijuana-its-chances-in-the-pa-legislature-and-more/
- [1]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
- [2]John Hudson and Karen DeYoung, “White House reverses West Bank policy, calling Israeli settlements illegal,” Washington Post, February 23, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/02/23/israel-west-bank-settlements-illegal/↩
- [3]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
- [4]Nahal Toosi et al., “The West tried to crush Russia’s economy. Why hasn’t it worked?” Politico, February 24, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/24/russia-economy-west-sanctions-00142713↩
- [5]Nahal Toosi et al., “The West tried to crush Russia’s economy. Why hasn’t it worked?” Politico, February 24, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/24/russia-economy-west-sanctions-00142713↩
- [6]Catherine Belton and Greg Miller, “Cracks emerge in Russian elite as tycoons start to bemoan invasion,” Washington Post, April 29, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/29/russia-oligarchs-ukraine-invasion-dissent/↩
- [7]Nahal Toosi et al., “The West tried to crush Russia’s economy. Why hasn’t it worked?” Politico, February 24, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/24/russia-economy-west-sanctions-00142713↩