Daily News Brief August 7, 2014 |
Top of the Agenda
Russia Institutes Food Ban Against West
In retaliation against Western sanctions over its involvement in the Ukraine crisis, Russia on Thursday banned most food imports (AP)
from the West in a move that will likely bruise Western agriculture
businesses and lead to shortages in Russian cities. The ban includes
imports of all meat, seafood, vegetables, fruit, dairy, and a wide range
of processed foods from the United States, the European Union,
Australia, Canada, and Norway for one year (FT).
Meanwhile, fighting continued in eastern Ukraine between government
troops and separatist rebels. Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said
that the possibility of Russia deploying military forces in Ukraine has
risen, as roughly 20,000 Russian troops have massed near the border (NYT).
Analysis
"But
before the West celebrates the possibility of Putin being forced from
the throne, we should consider what might come after him. This is not an
argument against sanctions or against political change
in Russia. But the country's history tells us that prolonged economic
malaise often brings about political turmoil, the result of which has
never been a democratic Russia," writes Julia Ioffe for The New Republic.
"Economic experts in Moscow warned the Kremlin would have to use its favourite weapon sparingly if it did not want sudden price rises or shortages
to shake the population out of a nationalist euphoria it has promoted
during the crisis," write Kathrin Hille and Stefan Wagstyl for the Financial Times.
"Europeans feared that the United States' meager economic ties with Russia made it too easy for Washington to push for sanctions,
while Washington feared that the governments of many EU member states
were too dependent on Russia's oil and gas to do what needed to be
done," write Stephen Holmes and Ivan Krastev for Foreign Affairs.
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