The Bottom Line

Can Western sanctions really change Russia’s behaviour?

As the US leads an economic war against Russia over Ukraine, we ask if sanctions will have the intended effect.

In response to the war in Ukraine, the United States and Europe launched a barrage of sanctions barring Russia from accessing its hundreds of billions of dollars of reserves worldwide.

But sanctions have been imposed on other countries for decades – North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, among others – without much change in course for those governments.

Host Steve Clemons speaks with Lee Jones, a professor of international relations at the University of London; and David Asher, an adviser to the US government on economic warfare strategies, whose work has ranged from Hezbollah in Lebanon to mobster John Gotti in New York.