"The primary lesson is that seeking complete isolation of a large, complex and globally-integrated economy is costly and unattainable," Elina Ribakova wrote in the Financial Times on Tuesday.
Russia's economy has managed to keep humming because Russian President Vladimir Putin has been preparing for sanctions since 2014.
Failures in Russia, lessons for the futureEven so, the West can glean valuable lessons from its experience sanctioning an economy as large as Russia, said Ribakova.
Advertisement"In the case of China, the US would need to look for vulnerabilities while remaining realistic about the limitations of sanctions," wrote Ribakova in FT.She added there must be steeper penalties for those who evade sanctions.
"The experience with Russia is an invaluable opportunity to sharpen sanctions as a foreign policy tool," she wrote Ribakova.
Persons:
—, Elina Ribakova, Vladimir Putin, Ribakova
Organizations:
Service, Financial Times, Business, Monetary Fund, Peterson Institute for International Economics, International Affairs Program, Kyiv School of Economics, Russia
Locations:
Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Beijing, China, Taiwan