Plus, looking back on two years of Covid.
Over the past week, Russia has felt the heat of tougher sanctions from governments and further punishment from companies suspending business there. Russian products have been pulled from shelves in the United States, while Disney and Warner Bros. have paused their theatrical releases in Russia. Major international sporting organizations like FIFA are barring Russians from participating in events. |
"A specter is haunting Russia — the specter of cancellation," wrote Spencer Bokat-Lindell last week. The question is: "Are these informal sanctions of Russian culture and business justified, and can they alter the course of the war? Or are these histrionic gestures that risk stigmatizing an entire population for the crimes of one autocrat?" |
Indeed, having the West cut its ties with Russia might be exactly what Vladimir Putin craves. |
Mikhail Zygar, a Russian journalist who has spent years talking to Kremlin insiders, explains why. "What I have heard about the president's behavior over the past two years is alarming," said Zygar. "In recent years — and especially since the start of the pandemic — he has cut off most contacts with advisers and friends" and clung to his own worldview instead. |
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