I find it morally questionable that all these corps stopped business in Russia. like Western Union. how does blocking payments between relatives punish Putin or force him to change course? if anything, all these punishments will unite all Russians behind Putin
> if anything, all these punishments will unite all Russians behind Putin
So far, this has not been the case. There have been quite a few protests in Russia against the war. [1]
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/more-than-64-people-det...
On the other hand, its easy to come to the conclusion that people in Russia will suffer a lot. That is sad because they dont deserve it. Also the fact that they are trapped in Russia is terrible. Very few ways of getting out of there due to all the countries closing their airspace.
IMO it would have been better to open the borders for both Ukrainian and Russian refugees (prioritising Ukrainians of course) and stop making business in the future with Russia, but without stopping the current functioning of the economy. This allows people to think about their future and move out of Russia without a lot of friction. In the long term, more damages for Putin's government.
Sanctions making Putin retreat seems more hypothetical to me. Targeting civilians on purpose to try to change a dictators mind is naive and it underestimates the power of a dictatorship inside its own country. Of course seizing foreign assets of Russian oligarchs has to be done, quitting projects with Russian companies as well and many other things, just don't try to affect the middle-low Russian class to create difficulties, it will only mess with the people and it wont damage Putin's regime.
I also want maximum damage on Russia. Offer Middle-low class Russians something WAY better than what they cant get in their country, and make it easy for them to go outside of Russia to get it. IMO that causes more damage than the sanctions (short and long term) but we will never know.
He knows it as well, which is why he's saber rattling his nukes.
I’m not convinced Putin cares much whether there is a war with nato.
Nato is only an issue to modern Russia due to Putin’s ingrained confrontational attitude towards nato from the Cold War but more so his liberal use of nato and the west as a foil to maintain his domestic power.
There's no moral justification for what's happening in Ukraine but pretending that expansion of NATO doesn't pose a strategic risk for Russia is intellectually dishonest.
In fact it seems that defense is better for Bin Laden because America has free and fair elections as well as free press (terms and conditions may apply), in Russia there's no free press, opposition candidates are thrown either into jail or out of windows, and elections are rigged.
It'd be like being mad at the neighbor's toddlers because their dad is an asshole who's terrorizing the neighborhood: what can the toddlers do?
The toddler comparison does not make a lot of sense. Most Russians and Americans are just as able bodied as Putin or Biden, they ain't tiny powerless humans. They are choosing and supporting authoritarianism.
I have friends in Russia who are devastated at what Putin has wrought.
> Most Russians and Americans are just as able bodied as Putin or Biden
Ah of course! It's about being able bodied! Maybe my friend can just tell the Russian army to retreat, oh what's that, the army follows Putin's orders but not my friend's? Hmm, but they're "just as able-bodied", geez, maybe it's something else that makes the army listen to Putin and not to my friends?
Even with coordinated calls for large demonstrations like Navalny's team did, the state (police) is still stronger.