Are the latest sanctions big enough and broad enough to inflict pain on Putin?

Are the latest sanctions big enough and broad enough to inflict¹ pain on Putin?

Transcript²

As Russian troops enter Ukraine's borders, the U.S. and European allies will now levy³ threatened sanctions against Russia. NPR's A Martinez talks to sanctions expert Paul Massaro.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Those new sanctions that President Biden and his allies have unleashed⁴ on Russia target Moscow's banking⁵, technology and aerospace⁶ sectors⁷. The scale of the package marks the most significant deployment⁸ of economic penalties against a country with Russia's economic size and influence. However, the U.S. and Europe stopped short of several key steps to target Moscow and Vladimir Putin himself. So will it be enough? For more, we turn now to Paul Massaro. He's a congressional foreign policy adviser⁹ who specializes in sanctions, illicit¹⁰ finance and counter-corruption¹¹. Paul, the U.S. has levied¹² penalties across industries in Russia from asset freezes for 10 of the largest banks to debt and equity¹³ restrictions¹⁴ on critical mining, transportation and logistics firms. Are those sanctions big enough and broad enough to inflict pain on Vladimir Putin?

PAUL MASSARO: So these sanctions are some of the most impressive sanctions that have ever been imposed. One of the most impressive things about these sanctions is the way that they've been coordinated¹⁵, the multinational¹⁶ - multilateral, rather, nature of these sanctions. They include not only the United States and its close allies, the U.K. and the EU, but also the remaining G-7, Canada and Japan, as well as Australia. And that is very special. I mean, that is something that, you know, both has a really significant pragmatic effect but also is extremely symbolic¹⁷.

MARTINEZ: Does that have more to do with the U.S.' ability to convince these allies to do this or Vladimir Putin's actions and how horrible they seem?

MASSARO: I think it's both. I think it's the approach that has been taken by the United States very purposefully to say that this needs to be the whole democratic world standing¹⁸ up for Ukraine in the face of this naked, unprovoked aggression¹⁹ but also the historic world-changing nature of Putin's war of aggression.

MARTINEZ: Now, sanctions regularly levied on oligarchs since 2014 have not made a huge difference to Putin's policies, and Biden admitted it would take some time for new measures to alter his behavior. Is the threat of sanctions, you know, if that hasn't deterred²⁰ Putin the past, then, Paul, what kind of effect will they have now?

MASSARO: So I guess I want to say at the outset that deterrence²¹ is no longer the goal of these sanctions. That time has passed. The time for diplomacy²² is over. Putin has made the historic decision to go for the jugular²³ here, to, you know, in his words, wipe Ukraine off the face of the Earth. And because of that, the goal now is to isolate²⁴ Russia. It's to turn Russia into an international pariah²⁶ on par²⁵ with other rogue²⁷ states like Iran or North Korea. Now, sanctions do work, but we also have to note that sanctions up till now have been very sparse²⁸, full of holes, very weak.

One of the reasons that Putin has reached the decision that he has is precisely²⁹ because he's been undermining the West, crossing red lines, attacking the democratic world for over a decade now, beginning with the invasion of Georgia in 2008, the invasion of Ukraine in 2014, the first invasion, assassinations³⁰ and attempted assassinations in the United Kingdom, abuse of Interpol to harass³¹ and pursue and intimidate³² political opponents and dissidents, cyberattacks, strategic corruption and so much more. And Putin has never suffered much more than a slap on the wrist for these things. And that's why, you know, even this time, he very likely expected, and he seems to have even said it in his very, very strange broadcast to National Security Council session, that he would expect the West to eventually just turn the other cheek.

MARTINEZ: Paul, you mentioned how sanctions sometimes can be weak. Sanctions have really been the preferred method of coercion³³ for the West for years. When you look at North Korea, Iran, Cuba, China, Russia, have they really been that effective?

MASSARO: Yeah. So sanctions are one of the really powerful asymmetric³⁴ tools of the United States, and that's because of the U.S. dollar and U.S. financial hegemony. There is no replacement³⁵ for the U.S. dollar. Something that I say over and over again is that modern dictatorship relies on access to the West. It's all about the dictator's cronies, the dictator's elites³⁶, being able to live in the West and spend in the West and have their money in the West, thereby³⁷ sort of hedging against the dictator having kind of an independent power base and so on and so forth³⁸, which allows these kind of dictatorial³⁹ regimes to be sustainable. When you take that away, you really are able to attack these regimes. You're able to degrade them. You're able to make them much more harmless, which is now what we intend to do with Russia. And there's just no - there's no replacement for this. People sometimes say, well, China, could China replace it? Could Russia? Sanctions bust⁴⁰? And at the end of the day, these sanctions, the West, the United States, is just too central to the financial system to avoid.

MARTINEZ: Because I keep hearing that Vladimir Putin has built up a $640 million piggy bank to be ready for these sanctions, I'm wondering, is the lack of a surprise here one of the reasons why maybe sanctions sometimes don't work? I mean, with military actions, is it through the air? Is it through the ground, north, south, east or west? Do sanctions suffer from the lack of surprise?

MASSARO: Sure. So, look, when it comes to targeted sanctions, when it comes to sanctions on individual oligarchs, which we really hope to see more of in the coming days and weeks, yeah, because an individual that hides their money, uses financial anonymity⁴¹, shell companies and anonymous⁴² trusts and so on and so forth to hide their wealth, may be able to avoid those sanctions. But when you're talking about the massive kind of sanctions we're looking at now, there's just - there's no way to avoid those. At the end of the day, you need that access. So, you know, the element of surprise is much less important.

MARTINEZ: Paul Massaro, congressional foreign policy adviser. Paul, thanks a lot.

MASSARO: My pleasure.

(SOUNDBITE OF SHIMON HOSHINO'S "SIESTA")

1 inflict   

vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担

参考例句：

• Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
• Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

4 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

6 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

7 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

9 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

10 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 levied   

征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税

参考例句：

• Taxes should be levied more on the rich than on the poor. 向富人征收的税应该比穷人的多。
• Heavy fines were levied on motoring offenders. 违规驾车者会遭到重罚。

13 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

14 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

15 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

16 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

17 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

18 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

19 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

20 deterred   

v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I told him I wasn't interested, but he wasn't deterred. 我已告诉他我不感兴趣，可他却不罢休。
• Jeremy was not deterred by this criticism. 杰里米没有因这一批评而却步。 来自辞典例句

21 deterrence   

威慑，制止； 制止物，制止因素； 挽留的事物； 核威慑

参考例句：

• An extreme school of "disarmers" pronounced stable deterrence was a dangerous deception. “裁军论者”中的极端派声称，稳定的威摄是一种危险的骗局。
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。

22 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

23 jugular   

n.颈静脉

参考例句：

• He always goes for the jugular.他总是直奔要害而去。
• Bilateral internal jugular vein stenting is also a rare procedure.两侧内颈静脉支架置放术也是少见的技术。

24 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

25 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

26 pariah   

n.被社会抛弃者

参考例句：

• Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village.不一会儿，汤姆碰上了村里的少年弃儿。
• His landlady had treated him like a dangerous criminal,a pariah.房东太太对待他就像对待危险的罪犯、对待社会弃儿一样。

27 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

28 sparse   

adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的

参考例句：

• The teacher's house is in the suburb where the houses are sparse.老师的家在郊区，那里稀稀拉拉有几处房子。
• The sparse vegetation will only feed a small population of animals.稀疏的植物只够喂养少量的动物。

29 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

30 assassinations   

n.暗杀( assassination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Most anarchist assassinations were bungled because of haste or spontaneity, in his view. 在他看来，无政府主义者搞的许多刺杀都没成功就是因为匆忙和自发行动。 来自辞典例句
• Assassinations by Israelis of alleged terrorists habitually kill nearby women and children. 在以色列，自称恐怖分子的炸弹自杀者杀害靠近自己的以色列妇女和儿童。 来自互联网

31 harass   

vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰

参考例句：

• Our mission is to harass the landing of the main Japaness expeditionary force.我们的任务是骚乱日本远征军主力的登陆。
• They received the order to harass the enemy's rear.他们接到骚扰敌人后方的命令。

32 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

33 coercion   

n.强制，高压统治

参考例句：

• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions.既不诱供也不逼供。
• He paid the money under coercion.他被迫付钱。

34 asymmetric   

a.不对称的

参考例句：

• Most people's faces are asymmetric. 大多数人的脸不对称。
• We have made no reference to asymmetric carbon atoms. 我们未曾涉及不对称碳原子。

35 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

36 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

37 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

38 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

39 dictatorial   

adj. 独裁的，专断的

参考例句：

• Her father is very dictatorial.她父亲很专横。
• For years the nation had been under the heel of a dictatorial regime.多年来这个国家一直在独裁政权的铁蹄下。

40 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

41 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

42 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。