Mariya Chukhnova (MARS-REERS ’20) has written an article for the Kyiv Independent critiquing the West’s fragmented, ineffective economic sanction policies.  In the piece, Chukhnova argues that Russia’s military-industrial complex has been able to retain its productive capacity throughout the war because of inconsistencies in the coverage and enforcement of sanctions imposed by the United States, the EU, and the U.K.

Sanctions are the only sustainable tool of nonmilitary pressure available to democracies, but they must evolve from punitive symbolism to strategic precision.

Equally vital is institutional coherence: a joint transatlantic sanctions mechanism capable of real-time coordination, shared intelligence, and dynamic listing updates. Without unified action, sanctions will remain reactive and piecemeal — strong in rhetoric but weak in execution.