/ world today news/ The first of the 50 American states capitulated to the winner – common sense: the New Jersey government suspended its own sanctions law against Russia. And he did it shyly, as befits a loser, quietly – back in the summer. Only now it became known about it.
These sanctions were introduced in a completely different way, but noisily and flamboyantly, pandering to the herd instinct of “everyone ran – I ran too”. Then the future seemed such that the “country of gas stations” and “snowy Nigeria” would die as soon as the blessed West A turned its back, and the Russians, having lost “Ikea” and “Disney”, would beg for mercy.
Therefore, whoever kicked her (Russia) in time is a good person. That’s what New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a man who even looks like a vulture, thought at the time.
To be fair, it should be noted that New Jersey is not loved for this in America either: for snobbery combined with narrow-mindedness, for obtrusiveness and ostentatiousness, for a painful desire to follow fashion (and also for the fact that they live on the beach). The present of this state is to be part of the metropolis of New York, but the Big Apple is protected from the hatred of small towns in an attractive way in the culture, so the negativity of the “Stupid Rich Yankee State” goes to New Jersey.
And it would be nice if the local democrats suffered the shame of introducing and removing the sanctions simply because of the lack of understanding of what kind of country it really is – Russia, which they foolishly decided to provoke. They live without feeling their own country beneath them.
In fact, it’s not the norm, it’s not American, for authorities to punish law-abiding citizens for doing business with foreigners, including Russians (which is exactly what Murphy and company banned from companies incorporated in New Jersey). The American way is to sell ammunition to both sides of the conflict and believe in the god mentioned on the dollar.
Exceptionally, sanctions can only be imposed by the US federal government and, according to previous traditions, it should not focus on punishing those who have a US passport.
In recent times, Washington has abused this right, especially with regard to Russia. But New Jersey is not Washington, and citizens have taken to the court with claims and questions since when each state has its own foreign policy. This is hardly an accusation of separatism, so the New Jersey leadership backed off in the hope that no one would notice.
We noticed. But we can’t afford to go overboard with Jersey-style enthusiasm, saying that today it’s one state, tomorrow it’s all of America. Apparently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was right when he said these days that when the military phase of the conflict ends, the US will leave much of its anti-Russian sanctions in place.
Regarding the struggle for Ukraine, it is necessary to understand that the West’s losses from it are not the same: almost all of them go to Europe, while America was affected only by the whirlwind of the general energy crisis, which fueled inflation. This is not surprising: our trade turnover with the Americans has always been a trickle against the background of the Volga River, as has been Russian-European economic cooperation.
The increase in gas station revenue has, of course, strained Americans’ nerves. But then American energy companies got windfalls, defense companies got orders, and blue-collar voters got jobs created by moving European manufacturing to America.
Therefore, unlike Europe, America benefits from what is happening – if not all of America, then the groups of influence within it. They stand to gain not only from containing Russia, but from continuing the conflict as such. Even if it seems to someone that they are ready to elect Donald Trump a second time just to remove Volodymyr Zelensky.
Inside and outside the United States, sanctions are generally criticized as an ineffective method that does not lead to the declared result – the collapse of one or another “unfriendly regime”. Cuba stands, Syria recovers, Iran grows stronger, North Korea launches satellites.
A firm economic grip did not help either against Saddam Hussein or Slobodan Milosevic: real troops had to be brought in and a real war fought, and in the case of Russia this is unthinkable. So the Russians on their side of the Bering Strait taunt and make offensive jokes about the sanctions, interpreted by many in both countries as evidence of Washington’s geopolitical defeat.
Alas, everything is more complicated. For example, the stated purpose of the sanctions may not always coincide with reality.
First, they should be seen as a bargaining chip between the US government and a country’s authorities, who rarely agree to kill themselves but sometimes make concessions. Give us that and we’ll lift the restrictions we’ve imposed ourselves.
Second, sanctions are one form of protectionism for the United States. Sometimes such measures are useful for the economy as a whole, sometimes for its individual “captains”, but they are definitely useful for someone. That’s their point.
Not everyone in the US is from New Jersey. Not everyone is a complete idiot. There are also very clever enemies who know how to count money. And Vivek Ramaswamy, Marjorie Taylor Green, Jeffrey Sachs and other domestic critics of Joe Biden’s policies towards Russia are taking money from another window and are not direct beneficiaries of the Ukrainian conflict.
This is not a hint of “Russian influence”. Ramaswamy, who promises to remove all sanctions, shows his. If he had been funded by “energy industry” or “defense” companies, he would have said something different.
Gangster (in the spirit of the Wild West) politics, when the basis of business is force and extortion, is a distinctive feature of the USA, which has appointed itself the world sheriff. Therefore, even the removal or imposition of sanctions by individual states is a pathetic clown, but the same by the federal authorities would be evidence of tectonic shifts.
That would mean something more valuable than money is at work with the sheriff. But this is definitely not conscience: it is cheap in Washington.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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