Globalization Was Supposed to Prevent War; Russia May Be Showing the Opposite - WSJ

The Wall Street Journal has reported that, while the U.S. is loudly threatening harsh economic reprisals against Moscow for any move on Ukraine, it also is reluctant to take steps to curb Russian energy exports, or to expel Russia from the dollar-denominated international finance system. Why? Because, in today’s global energy market, such moves would risk raising energy prices for U.S. consumers in a time of already-high inflation, while also hurting the economies of European allies with much more extensive trade and financial ties to Russia.

This is one of the aspects of the “strategic pause” Joe Manchin was talking about. We need to confront a belligerent Russia, but the wasteful policies of the last year used up all of our dry powder. Now the Administration can’t afford the political cost of higher inflation and prices and Putin is further enabled to do as he pleases.

It can hardly be a coincidence that Mr. Putin has threatened Ukraine now, in the depths of winter, when Europe’s need for Russian gas is highest, and public fears of lost access to that gas, and of the resulting global effects, are greatest.