War by Other Means: Western Sanctions on Russia and Moscow's Response

by Angela Borozna, Lada V. Kochtcheeva

Overview

This book analyzes the goals of Western sanctions imposed on Russia from 2014 to 2023. It explores the effects of sanctions on the Russian economy and its political course, as well as the repercussions of the sanctions to the senders and third parties, including spillover effects on neighboring countries and boomerang effects on the senders. While sanctions can be considered relatively effective in terms of economic damage, the Russian economy is far from being crushed. Importantly, sanctions proved to be ineffective as an instrument of foreign policy. They have failed to alter Moscow’s resolve to continue its military operation and are unlikely to change it in the near future. The effects of the sanctions extend well beyond their anticipated impact on Russia itself, primarily due to the Western nations’ limited experience and knowledge in implementing sanctions against a major power with extensive global connections, such as Russia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783031513701
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date:	02/29/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Dr. Angela Borozna is Adjunct Professor at California State University, Fullerton. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA, and a Master’s degree in finance from George Washington University, USA. Her current research interests focus on Russian foreign policy, economic sanctions, Arctic policy, the political economy of Russia, and Russia’s strategic culture. She is the author of the book The Sources of Russian Foreign Policy Assertiveness, published with Palgrave Macmillan in 2022. She previously worked for several finance companies in London, New York, and San Francisco.

Dr. Lada V. Kochtcheeva is Professor of Political Science in the School of Public and International Affairs at the North Carolina State University. Her research speaks to the theories of governance, globalization, policy innovation, comparative public policy, government-society relations, environmental regulation, and post-communist politics, especially Russian politics. She has conducted research in the United States and abroad, including the UNEP, state agencies, research institutes, and think tanks. She is the author of two books, Russian Politics and Response to Globalization (Palgrave) and Comparative Environmental Regulation in the United States and Russia: Institutions, Flexible Instruments, and Governance (SUNY).

Table of Contents

1.Introduction.- 2. Sanctions: A Theoretical Review.- 3. Annexation of Crimea: Western Sanctions and Russia’s Response (2014-2021).- 4. The War in Ukraine: Avalanche of Western Sanctions and Russia’s Reaction.- 5. Sanctions Busting: The Role of Various States in Russia’s Resistance to Sanctions.- 6. Assessing Sanctions Effectiveness.- 7. Implications of sanctions to the rest of the world.- 8. Conclusion.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

War by Other Means is required reading to grasp the dynamic of economic sanctions. Drawing on Western sanctions imposed on the Russian economy from 2014-to-2023, Borozna and Kochtcheeva provide a detailed and persuasive corrective to the dominant perspective that sanctions undermine target countries. This book convincingly show that sanctions have had unintended consequences on the Russian economy, which remained resilient through geostrategic posturing to the East. The War by Other Means is required reading to understand economic sanctions.

-Immanuel Ness, Chairperson and Professor of Political Science, Brooklyn College, NY, author of Sanctions as War and Migration as Economic Imperialism.

War By Other Means is an outstanding contribution to the literature on this increasingly important form of economic and political warfare. In this important work Angela Borozna and Lada Kochtcheeva provide a comprehensive and balanced analysis of the role of sanctions in the contemporary era including the role played by trading partners in enabling Russia’s response, the economic and political impact of sanctions on Russia, and the implications of sanctions for the rest of the world.

-Alan W. Cafruny, Henry Bristol Professor of International Affairs, Department of Government, Hamilton College, USA, author of The Political Economy of the Pandemic: National and Global Perspectives

War by Others Means is an important study which shows how Russia has survived being the most sanctioned country in the world by reorienting its trade towards the East and through import-substitution policies and investment in local industries. The U.S. has imposed continued waves of sanctions on Russia since 2012, but these sanctions have not altered Russia’s foreign policies or helped undermine the Putin government as they were intended. Instead the sanctions have helped fortify Putin’s hold on power as heis seen by most Russians as having protected Russian interests in the face of a form of foreign aggression whose purpose is to collapse Russia’s economy and weaken the country, reducing it to vassal status of the West. The sanctions have caused even more damage to Germany than Russia because of Germany’s dependence on Russian natural gas and oil imports and helped accelerate a process of de-dollarization, which is undermining U.S. global economic power. Angela Borozna and Lada Kochtcheeva have done their homework and provide extensive data to back up their expert political-economic analysis, which points to a failed public policy by the U.S. that is having ripple effects on the global economy and helping to accelerate the transition to a multi-polar world order.” -

-Jeremy Kuzmarov, author of The Russians are Coming, Again: The First Cold War as Tragedy, the Second as Farce, with John Marciano (Monthly Review Press, 2018)

In this outstanding book Angela Borozna and Lada Kochtcheeva explore the paradox of sanctions as a foreign policy tool. Their carefully researched and balanced examination of the case of Russia suggests that rather than driving regime change sanctions are more often seen by the population as an unjust form of collective punishment and national security threat that leads to confrontation with the West. While the long-term effect of sanctions on Russia is yet to be determined the authors show that the Russian economy has proven far more resilient than anticipated. The broader implication of their analysis is that economic coercion by sender states risks undermining the very mechanisms that they rely on for their success—excessive supply chain control and dollar hegemony—as target states and their allies develop alternative financial and legal instruments. “War by Other Means” is timely contribution to the growing sanctions literature that urges policy adjustment to new geopolitical realities.

-Dr. Ksenia Kirkham, Lecturer in the Department of War Studies, King's College London