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8/12/14

Ukraine: Despite US and EU Sanctions, Russia's Economy Is Still Growing

For a wide variety of reasons, Russia is a country that tends to draw out extremely heated reactions from Westerners. Very rarely does one encounter analysis  that concludes that, despite its many and obvious problems, very little will change and people will continue to muddle through. Russia is eternally on the verge of an epic catastrophe or a great triumph.

The introduction of newly-enhanced US and EU sanctions against Russia, which have now targeted its most important financial institutions and several of its most important energy companies, has compelled some journalists to wonder whether or not its economy is “on the verge of collapse.” Others have started to openly speculate about who would replace Putin in the event that the government collapses or in the event that he is driven from power in a palace coup. These criticisms fold nicely into those delivered by Barack Obama: Russia is a country that doesn’t make anything, that doesn’t support entrepreneurs, and that, quite simply, is place where no one wants to live. Russia, in other words, is doomed.

As someone who has been extremely critical of Russia’s recent policies, I can understand why some of these criticisms are being voiced. It genuinely does seem that, over the past five months, Russia has regressed: it has not only waged a hyper aggressive, Soviet-style, information war against the “Kiev fascists,” it has openly annexed the territory of a neighboring state and subsequently supported separatist forces waging war against its central government.

One can both sympathize with Russian interests in Ukraine and criticize the Ukrainian government while also noting that using the military to seize territory is completely and totally unjustifiable.*

Read more: Despite US and EU Sanctions, Russia's Economy Is Still Growing

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