Questions tagged [sanctions]
Sanctions are actions taken by countries against others for political reasons, either unilaterally or multilaterally.
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Why is the USA able to damage the Russian economy by imposing sanctions but Russia can't do the same?
Why is the USA able to damage the Russian economy by imposing sanctions but Russia can't do the same?
For example see U.S. tightens sanctions on Russia over Crimea, New US sanctions on Russia inflame ...
user4514
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Why didn't Western countries boycott the 2018 World Cup?
According to this article Russian government believes that 2018 World Cup will help Russian economy on the medium term:
a survey by the Russian government last week. It said the World Cup's
boost ...
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What does Putin/Russia gain from only accepting payment for gas in Rubles?
Yesterday, Vladimir Putin announced that "unfriendly" countries would need to pay for Russian gas in Rubles in the near future. The news came with speculation that this is a move to prop up ...
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Why do EU sanctions against Russia stop short of a total trade ban?
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine now officially around the corner (or even underway), I am surprised how minimalistic and non-committal the proposed sanctions are. Even the US "mother of all ...
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Why did Russia have their foreign currency reserves in overseas banks?
According to this BBC article, Russia anticipated that their invasion of Ukraine would lead to sanctions and one of their ways to sanction proof their economy was to build a large foreign currency ...
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What is Russia getting in exchange for their gas and oil now that they've been cut off from the Western financial system?
As far as I can tell both of these things are currently true:
Russia has been cut off from a large chunk of the Western financial system
The EU is still buying Russian gas and oil
But how does this ...
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How do Western democracies justify censorship of foreign media outlets?
One of the features of a democracy is freedom of speech and media, but in the last few months Russian media outlets were closed and blocked online. Such censorship happened for example in the EU and ...
user43557
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What does the West have to gain by not allowing Russia to pay its debt?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8PXkkNJ2_o
Bloomberg reports that the default is largely symbolic and Russia is simply defaulting since Western financial institutions won't accept Russia payments. Is ...
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Is there any meaningful purpose in stopping selling consumer goods to Russia?
So, my newsfeed had an item about "H&M" stopping selling things to Russa, as well as a score of other random retailers (Nike? etc...).
I can sort of see the possible argument about ...
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Does Congress not have to approve the US withdrawal from the Iran deal?
How is Trump able to withdraw from the Iran deal without Congressional approval?
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Serbia will not impose sanctions against Russia, why?
In Europe, there are not many countries that have not sanctioned Russia for attacking Ukraine.
Serbia is one of the few that has not so far done so. What reasons have the country's leadership given ...
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What's the point of banning a few 'selected Russian banks' from SWIFT?
I read that several Russian banks got banned from SWIFT (mirror) following the ongoing 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. What's the point of banning a few selected Russian banks from SWIFT? I would ...
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How effective are sanctions in overthrowing regimes?
One can read constantly in the media, that the West and especially the US announce sanctions against some countries. North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Venezuela are some examples.
In some cases like Cuba ...
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Why has Pakistan never faced the wrath of the USA similar to other countries in the region, especially Iran?
As far as I understand, the USA's Middle East policy more or less revolves around Israel and its security. The countries which had antagonistic policies toward Israel were either taken out by Israel ...
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Why haven't the sanctions relief improved Iranians living conditions?
While most of the world was celebrating the New Year, Iranian protests continued in the night 2017-2018:
"In the events of last night, unfortunately a total of about 10 people
were killed in ...
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Why can't the West just ban Russia from trade?
President Biden has announced new sanctions on Russia after Russia invaded Ukraine unprovoked.
From CNN:
President Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled harsh new sanctions on Russia meant to punish the ...
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Fact-check: Has the US increased imports of Russian oil?
There have been reports that the US has increased imports of Russian oil over the past week:
US ramps up oil imports from Russia, pursues own interests at expense of European allies amid Ukraine ...
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Did Ukraine lose half its GDP because of sanctions against Russia after its 2014 invasion of Crimea?
Note: This was originally posted in 2018, before the 2022 war.
According to a Russian News Agency Ukrainian politician Evgeny Murayev said that
Anti-Russian sanctions of the EU and the United States ...
user9558
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To what extent does China need the SWIFT system?
To what extent does China need the SWIFT system?
Some commentators have said that the U.S. might be considering banning China from the SWIFT system were they to support Russia with military aid. My ...
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Were there any sanctions for the Khashoggi assassination?
In 2018, opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally assassinated by Saudi Arabian agents.
Were there any sanctions for that act?
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What is the basis for the Western leaders to believe that harsh economic sanctions will not lead to a nuclear war with Russia eventually?
It is clear at the moment that no Western countries will send troops to Ukraine or set up a non-fly zone in Ukraine because they worry that will lead to a WWIII.
But Putin already said Western ...
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Why hasn't Russia or China come up with any system yet to bypass USD?
China urged to tap RCEP trade deal for future digital payments system as US sanctions loom
China should consider using digital technology to develop an alternative to the SWIFT financial payments ...
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On what principle did UK seize an Iranian oil tanker? Is there no right of passage for third countries?
In July 2019, the United Kingdom seized an oil tanker carrying oil from Iran to Syria. Reportedly, this is to enforce EU sanctions against Syria. But neither Iran nor Syria are members of the EU, so ...
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Why weren't any sanctions imposed on India for not signing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons?
Why weren't any sanctions imposed on India for not signing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons?
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How exactly are further sanctions meant to prevent North Korea from continuing their nuclear program?
I understand that sanctions in general work in a variety of ways, such as preventing new technologies from being developed, encouraging unrest among the populace, etc.
However, it appears to me that ...
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Why is China complying with sanctions against Russia?
I was surprised to learn that China seems to be complying with at least some sanctions against Russia:
China has refused to supply Russian airlines with aircraft parts, an official at Russia's ...
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Why doesn't the EU use its economic power to deal with Turkey's demands?
Despite Turkey having a (in comparison) weak economy, the European Union seems incapable of putting them into their place.
As far as I can tell, there is no reason to fear a military conflict (NATO), ...
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What possible retaliation could Russia take against Lithuania for enforcing the EU sanctions?
Russia has today threatened Lithuania with retaliation after Lithuania enforced the EU sanctions blocking certain products from transiting Lithuania from Russia to Kaliningrad. Russia refers to this ...
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Can the current European sanctions against Russia have a significant effect?
Many European countries and the EU itself have imposed economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. However, according to this Guardian article citing this study, European nations are ...
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How can Germany increase investments in Russia while EU economic sanctions against Russia are still in place?
According to Wikipedia EU economical sanctions against Russia are still in place:
The sanctions by the European Union and United States continue to be
in effect as of May 2019. In July 2018, the ...
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Do Western countries want for Russia to default or not on its foreign debt?
According to TASS, Russia should be able to avoid defaulting on its foreign debt because now, as opposed to 1998, it has enough financial reserves. However, the issue is that a big fraction of its ...
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Difference between Western sanctions and Russia's choice to stop oil & gas
Just to be clear, I am neither in favour of Russia's war nor arguing against punishing it for the invasion. However, I have noticed a difference in rhetoric around what seems to me to be similar sorts ...
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What is the political justification by China and India for not participating in the sanctions against Russia?
China and India are not participating in the sanctions imposed by the Western world on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine. This has effectively made the sanctions much less effective, compared to what ...
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Does banning oil import from Russia damage its economy in the short term?
Tucker in this video said that sanctions against Russia aren't hurting Putin and its side-effects are just hurting US people by raising gas price.
Do US sanctions against Russia really not have any ...
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Why is the EU so reluctant to cut Russia off the SWIFT system as part of the new sanctions to be put in place after invading Ukraine?
This Reuters article argues that it is unlikely for the EU to include cutting Russia off the SWIFT system.
One of the most important reasons seems to be the financial impact on the EU lenders:
Data ...
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Have there been any attempts by the rest of the world to sanction the US in the last years?
In the past few years the US has implemented or rejected certain international policies which other countries have been critical of. The first that come to mind are:
The Paris climate accord - the US ...
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Can EU triggering of article 7 eventually lead to financial loss (EU funds) for the targeted country?
Recently, European Commission has triggered article 7 against Poland:
The European Commission, the guardian of EU law, said earlier
Wednesday it was triggering the so-called Article 7 procedure ...
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Why is Russia continuing to attack Ukraine even with a number of sanctions imposed?
Russia is essentially being blocked out of trade, and also, some western services (e.g., Apple) as a result of their war with Ukraine. The Russian currency is also collapsing quitea much. However, the ...
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Cost of oil sanctions to world's consumers
Crude oil prices could sink by as much as $30 a barrel if China decides to buy Iranian crude oil in retaliation to the latest U.S. tariff measures, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
CNBC ...
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What will be the practical implications if European Parliament designates Russian Federation a state sponsor of terrorism?
Today (as of the time this question is created) there will be a vote in the European Parliament on this. If the designation is supported, then I wonder what the practical implications will be if any.
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Why did Google ban Myanmar from accessing Google Workspace?
I am a student from Myanmar. Our country had a coup 6 months ago and many countries are imposing sanctions on the military junta for killing and abusing its own people. Google has blocked access to ...
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Which "critical technologies" does Russia depend upon the United States and its allies for, that "China does not have access to?"
In the recent NBC's Face The Nation interview Top Treasury official says U.S. sanctions would target Putin, Russian economy after the 2 minute mark US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo ...
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Have any EU countries (or EU as whole) banned Russian Vodka?
I have recently noticed an increase of Vodka advertising in my country and I remember that there were some discussions within EU about banning some Russian products.
According to this article, back ...
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Why hasn't the UK sanctioned Hong Kong officials, like the USA?
On August 7, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned 11 individuals e.g. Chief Executive Carrie Lam, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu, Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng and ...
user6241
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Has the Biden administration communicated its reasoning for maintaining the embargo against Cuba?
The US currently has a trade embargo against Cuba, which has been in the news recently due to protests against the latter's government.
During the Trump administration, these sanctions were tightened. ...
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What exactly is the purpose of the Non-Proliferation Treaty when nuclear weapons can be substituted with conventional explosives?
With the destructive power of nuclear weapons, it's understandable the concerted effort by many world bodies to vigorously regulate and control the ownership of nuclear weapons. The NPT is one of such ...
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How are personal sanctions against Russian officials supposed to work?
I understand that most sanctions against Russia are expected to cripple its economy. The war in Ukraine would then become prohibitively expensive, and Russia would have to withdraw. I also see how ...
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What has been the result (so far) of the new US sanctions on Iran?
About 14 months ago, President Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran. As I remember, one of goals of the sanctions was to reduce Iran's influence in the Middle East by reducing its financial resources.
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Are there any official or stated end conditions for US/EU sanctions on Russia?
When the US or EU placed economic sanctions on Russia for their invasion of Ukraine, were there any official or stated ending conditions upon which sanctions would be lifted? Or are the sanctions ...
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Communicating the Nord Stream 2 sanctions
The US has moved to sanction companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which transports gas directly from Russia to Germany. At a glance over German and European news, the US public ...
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