Opinion | US sanctions pressure on Russia shows geopolitics now trumps economics

The US is increasingly focused on economic strategy as a way to contain Russia and China, deploying or threatening sanctions and insisting its allies do the same

Great power politics is taking the place of economics, which has long been the driving force behind globalisation and liberalism in the post-Cold-War era

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Published: 3:30am, 27 Apr 2022

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in February 2021, US President Joe Biden unveiled a new vector of US foreign policy by raising the struggle of democracy versus autocracy. Later, in April, he reiterated the narrative during an address to the US Congress and implied a special emphasis on competing with China and containing Russia.

This effort began to bear fruit that September with the emergence of the trilateral Aukus security grouping of the United States, UK and Australia. Originally billed as a programme to help Australia acquire nuclear-propelled submarines, the grouping’s remit has extended to co-development of hypersonic weapons.

Aukus was not the only US instrument to foster a coalition among democratic nations. In December, Biden convened a virtual “Summit for Democracy” with more than 100 nations, spotlighting the global rise of authoritarianism with a veiled nod at China and Russia.

The US has also been active in other initiatives with like-minded states, holding the first Quad leaders’ summit last September. Lately, reports have emerged that Japan was informally invited to join Aukus while South Korea has sought to participate in Quad summits as an observer.

While the US has denied those reports, they appear to mesh with the broader US Indo-Pacific strategy unveiled this year, with an aim of curtailing China’s rise through “ironclad treaty alliances” among democratic states.

Washington now seems to be turning to the economic phase of its containment plan. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called for “friend-shoring” to counter practices that violate national security and human rights, which she said should help like-minded countries “stand together to defend our international order”.