Valdai Club

Neither Europe, nor the world as a whole will be left without arms control for the simple reason that it meets the interests of all countries involved in the process. Arms control boosts security and predictability while cutting defense spending. Moreover, there is years-long positive experience and a huge layer of functional legacy in this sphere.

Since the end of the Cold War, economic sanctions have increasingly been used by big players as a tool of foreign policy. The initiators of sanctions use trade and financial restrictions to try to force the target countries to change course politically as well as to influence internal political processes. The United States has positioned itself as the largest sanctions initiator. Over the past hundred years, the US has used them more often than all other nations and the UN combined.