Sanctions on Russia

Zachary Jackson4 said:😁 I was wondering which nation would actually fare best under total global sanctions. The USA?

It would likely be somewhere like Samoa, or a small nation with very little trade activity.

But among the major powers, I suspect the USA has the lowest import-to-GDP ratio. It really depends on what specifically is being imported, but since the USA is self-sufficient in critical sectors like energy—oil, gas, and so on—they are probably one of the strongest candidates for surviving isolation...

It looks like even the folks over at Imbex finally realized there’s a massive hole in the narrative being pushed by the EU's subordinates. It turns out everyone except those EU puppets is actually profiting from high oil prices and these hollow "sanctions."

Oil prices are climbing week after week, and the big winners are clearly the oil giants and major exporting nations. Take Russia, for example. They aren't even the world's top producer—that title belongs to the USA—but they are the second largest exporter after Saudi Arabia. Their economy simply isn't large enough to consume all the crude they pull out of the ground.

These rising oil prices are doing wonders for Russia's ability to fund its war in Ukraine by padding both their state and military budgets. Meanwhile, the EU is busy slapping sanctions on Russia to try and cut off their primary customer. It’s perfectly logical to assume these sanctions are just driving up global oil prices, which ultimately ends up helping Russia instead of hurting them.

urbanotter said:So, where exactly do you think Russian importers go to get the currency they need if not through the Russian foreign exchange market?
What kind of currency do you think companies use when they have to buy rubles just to secure their supply of gas and oil? How exactly are they paying for it?
Maybe in your world, they’re just handing it over for free based on a friendly smile.

Just because you, as an individual citizen in Russia, can't access certain currencies in countries that have slapped sanctions on Russia, doesn't mean it's impossible to trade for other currencies on the Russian forex market.

Trade between Russia and other nations is increasingly shifting toward local currencies, and honestly, that is precisely what the USA fears most.
The demand for the dollar will continue to erode as more international trade settles using domestic currencies instead.

As a result, these sanctions are becoming less effective at hitting their intended targets; instead, Western importers of Russian gas are actually buying up rubles just to pay for the energy they need.

This entire assault on the established monetary system is going to force nations to find alternative ways to settle payments with one another.
After seeing their foreign exchange reserves frozen and seized by banks all over the world, many countries are being forced to rethink which currencies they should hold to facilitate trade, or if they should simply move toward gold.

When that happens, the global reliance on the dollar diminishes, and eventually, the rest of the world won't have to shoulder the burden of its constant printing anymore.
That hurts the USA far more than any "Glory to Ukraine" sentiment or the tragic loss of thousands of lives this war brings.

Everything the USA and the West are doing is just pushing us closer to a point where some madman, on either side, decides to push the button. At that stage, it won't matter who won or lost; the only question will be whether anyone survives to travel anywhere, or if a few lucky souls will just be waiting in bunkers, hoping life on Earth becomes possible again.

Go ahead, fly from Washington, D.C. to Moscow and try buying rubles. Then take those rubles and go buy a Detroit car in Moscow.

urbanotter As requested:
It’s becoming increasingly common to see local currencies used for direct settlements; for instance, we see Russia paying for Chinese goods in Yuan while China settles its energy bills with Russia using Rubles. It's much like how businesses in the States might swap specialized services to bypass traditional banking hurdles!

There won't be any chaos at all, because you'll simply purchase the specific currency you actually need rather than juggling two or three different global ones!

When I was traveling through Canada, I opted to buy local currency instead of relying on cards, just to avoid getting hit by another conversion fee at a Canadian bank! It’s much like choosing cash over a credit card when you're visiting a small town in the Midwest to sidestep those extra processing charges.
The continuous arguments suggesting that adopting the Dollar is a major advantage really undermine any claims that such a move would lead to chaos. It’s like saying a smooth transition is just a myth when the benefits are so clearly laid out!
If the primary advantage of adopting the Euro is streamlining trade within the common market, I fail to see the downside—provided we aren't forced to settle everything exclusively in USD!

At its core, commerce is simply the exchange of goods, while money serves merely as the lubricant to make that process smoother; whether we use USD for mutual transactions or any other medium is ultimately secondary to the trade itself.

I believe you have a complete misunderstanding of the subject matter; to put it more bluntly, you seem to be writing without any real grasp of the facts.
I can assure you that within the European Union, roughly 90% of transactions are settled in Euros rather than USD.
The US dollar serves as the ultimate anchor currency on the global stage. It truly stands alone as the most stable currency available, boasting remarkably minimal exchange rate fluctuations compared to anything else in the international market.
If you honestly believe someone on a different continent is going to accept US Dollars as a local currency, then you really need to wake up. You are dreaming!

There is a clear hierarchy when it comes to the global market:
The strength of the USD remains truly remarkable! It’s much like a sturdy anchor holding a ship steady amidst a turbulent storm.
The Euro remains a fascinating case study in monetary stability! It’s much like a complex engine that requires perfectly synchronized parts to maintain its momentum.
The Yen is performing quite like a vintage sedan struggling to climb a steep hill in Los Angeles—it just doesn't have the horsepower right now! It’s truly fascinating to watch.
4. Pounds
The Australian dollar is much like a high-performance sports car; its value shifts rapidly depending on the terrain of the global market!

George Robinson43 said:

urbanotter As requested:
It’s becoming increasingly common to see local currencies used for direct settlements; for instance, we see Russia paying for Chinese goods in Yuan while China settles its energy bills with Russia using Rubles. It's much like how businesses in the States might swap specialized services to bypass traditional banking hurdles!

There won't be any chaos at all, because you'll simply purchase the specific currency you actually need rather than juggling two or three different global ones!

When I was traveling through Canada, I opted to buy local currency instead of relying on cards, just to avoid getting hit by another conversion fee at a Canadian bank! It’s much like choosing cash over a credit card when you're visiting a small town in the Midwest to sidestep those extra processing charges.
The continuous arguments suggesting that adopting the Dollar is a major advantage really undermine any claims that such a move would lead to chaos. It’s like saying a smooth transition is just a myth when the benefits are so clearly laid out!
If the primary advantage of adopting the Euro is streamlining trade within the common market, I fail to see the downside—provided we aren't forced to settle everything exclusively in USD!

At its core, commerce is simply the exchange of goods, while money serves merely as the lubricant to make that process smoother; whether we use USD for mutual transactions or any other medium is ultimately secondary to the trade itself.

I believe you have a complete misunderstanding of the subject matter; to put it more bluntly, you seem to be writing without any real grasp of the facts.
I can assure you that within the European Union, roughly 90% of transactions are settled in Euros rather than USD.
The US dollar serves as the ultimate anchor currency on the global stage. It truly stands alone as the most stable currency available, boasting remarkably minimal exchange rate fluctuations compared to anything else in the international market.
If you honestly believe someone on a different continent is going to accept US Dollars as a local currency, then you really need to wake up. You are dreaming!

There is a clear hierarchy when it comes to the global market:
The strength of the USD remains truly remarkable! It’s much like a sturdy anchor holding a ship steady amidst a turbulent storm.
The Euro remains a fascinating case study in monetary stability! It’s much like a complex engine that requires perfectly synchronized parts to maintain its momentum.
The Yen is performing quite like a vintage sedan struggling to climb a steep hill in Los Angeles—it just doesn't have the horsepower right now! It’s truly fascinating to watch.
4. Pounds
The Australian dollar is much like a high-performance sports car; its value shifts rapidly depending on the terrain of the global market!

The real issue here is that this established hierarchy is starting to shift slowly but surely.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid...97.-2207520000..

It would be absolutely absurd to insist on using the dollar within the Eurozone, especially when you have to factor in the extra cost of conversion fees.

Noah Diaz said:It looks like even the folks over at Imbex finally realized there’s a massive hole in the narrative being pushed by the EU's subordinates. It turns out everyone except those EU puppets is actually profiting from high oil prices and these hollow "sanctions."

Oil prices are climbing week after week, and the big winners are clearly the oil giants and major exporting nations. Take Russia, for example. They aren't even the world's top producer—that title belongs to the USA—but they are the second largest exporter after Saudi Arabia. Their economy simply isn't large enough to consume all the crude they pull out of the ground.

These rising oil prices are doing wonders for Russia's ability to fund its war in Ukraine by padding both their state and military budgets. Meanwhile, the EU is busy slapping sanctions on Russia to try and cut off their primary customer. It’s perfectly logical to assume these sanctions are just driving up global oil prices, which ultimately ends up helping Russia instead of hurting them.

But that one line really tells you everything you need to know....

Sure, a world without sanctions would be a dream, but we’d also love if China hadn't spent months under lockdowns, or if the Panama Canal hadn't been blocked twice last year, or if global trade hadn't been getting wrecked by bad policies for the last two years and so on.

Funny how they're suddenly blaming "bad policies" for destroying trade now, when the exact same media outlets were busy worshipping the ground anyone who wanted to lock down entire countries because of some invisible enemy, all while quoting any scientist willing to play along with that script... 🤔

So they were busy messing up the policy, isn't that obvious?

urbanotter said:The real issue here is that this established hierarchy is starting to shift slowly but surely.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid...97.-2207520000..

It would be absolutely absurd to insist on using the dollar within the Eurozone, especially when you have to factor in the extra cost of conversion fees.

I honestly can't see how that graph showing total EU imports by currency from 2016 is relevant here.
It doesn't connect to our discussion at all.
If you're wondering why the UK has such a high share of other currencies, there's a simple explanation—it's mostly due to trade with Australia and Canada, involving the Commonwealth.
Actually, the Canadian dollar ranks as the 6th most used currency, right after the Australian one.

I’ve been digging through Wikipedia, so now I consider myself an expert.

At first glance, it seems what Russia is exporting is far more significant than what they are importing.

Main Exports: crude oil, refined oil, natural gas, coal, wheat, iron

Main Imports: automobiles and vehicle parts, packaged pharmaceuticals, broadcasting equipment, aircraft, computers

Another 46 percent of their exports go to the European Union and the United Kingdom, but even they haven't imposed total sanctions; Russia can likely pivot its exports elsewhere, so the real question is how much export revenue has actually been stripped away and what the true economic damage is from the import embargo.
"Not enough," some will claim—both the pro-Russian crowd and certain Western sympathizers.

The real question is how this will economically cripple them and why they would eventually apologize. Swift? Computer imports? Given that 60 percent of the population works in service industries, won't they be completely screwed?
What happens in 1 to 5 years, then 10, and then suddenly, "We are sorry, please don't do this anymore"?

There is one clever comment on a Russian portal regarding the fight against sanctions: "One step forward, two steps back."

It won't totally tank their economy, but it’ll definitely sting—forcing them to pivot toward different markets where they won't have nearly as much leverage. See, China isn't some pushover like the European Union. As for this whole new Russia-China dynamic? We're mostly just guessing at this point.

I don't see the average person falling into some Soviet-style cult of consumerism—mostly because all those fancy gadgets can be found outside of Western markets.

Look at the food sector; we've seen since 2014 that Russia has been pretty successful at breaking its addiction to luxury Western goods.

George Robinson43 said:I honestly can't see how that graph showing total EU imports by currency from 2016 is relevant here.
It doesn't connect to our discussion at all.
If you're wondering why the UK has such a high share of other currencies, there's a simple explanation—it's mostly due to trade with Australia and Canada, involving the Commonwealth.
Actually, the Canadian dollar ranks as the 6th most used currency, right after the Australian one.

This looks like European Union trade, but only internal to the EU if I am reading this correctly.

I didn't realize the dollar was quite this strong. Everything my companies did with the European Union was handled in Euros; the only ones who mostly asked for Pounds were the Britons. For instance, Mexicans want Euros. Turks usually ask for dollars (rarely Euros), and almost every country outside of Europe asks for USD (Asia).

Is there a breakdown of this by industry somewhere? What exactly is being traded in dollars within the EU? I assume someone importing from outside the EU (China) pays in dollars, so they are happy if they can convince buyers to pay in Euros, but if they are dealing with end consumers, they can't.

Edit: Sorry, this shows trade with countries outside the EU. That makes sense now.

analogbear5 said:It won't totally tank their economy, but it’ll definitely sting—forcing them to pivot toward different markets where they won't have nearly as much leverage. See, China isn't some pushover like the European Union. As for this whole new Russia-China dynamic? We're mostly just guessing at this point.

I don't see the average person falling into some Soviet-style cult of consumerism—mostly because all those fancy gadgets can be found outside of Western markets.

Look at the food sector; we've seen since 2014 that Russia has been pretty successful at breaking its addiction to luxury Western goods.

I can already picture you in Russia. That's where the real luck is.☕

urbanotter said:The real issue here is that this established hierarchy is starting to shift slowly but surely.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid...97.-2207520000..

It would be absolutely absurd to insist on using the dollar within the Eurozone, especially when you have to factor in the extra cost of conversion fees.

We're talking about the petrodollar here, not the dollar being used for every little thing.

swiftjackal11 said:I can already picture you in Russia. That's where the real luck is.☕

What’s with that comment? What am I supposed to sing with you guys—that Russia is falling apart while NATO keeps expanding?

Major powers like China, Israel, the Arab League, and India, as far as I can tell, haven't imposed any sanctions. It’s clearly the East against the West.

I honestly can't decide who's more surprising: Israel or the Arabs.

swiftjackal11 said:Go ahead, fly from Washington, D.C. to Moscow and try buying rubles. Then take those rubles and go buy a Detroit car in Moscow.

I’m living in Cleveland

but honestly, your suggestion about heading over to Moscow to grab a car isn't half bad, much like how it wouldn't be a terrible idea to drive across the border to grab groceries in Canada or Canada.

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When it comes to aesthetics, these machines are practically indistinguishable from their European or American counterparts. You can find cars on the market where the bodywork looks almost entirely copied from a Chevrolet Matiz, a Mercedes-Benz, or a BMW. Most of the crossovers feature those signature aggressive lines, yet they still manage to look quite elegant. As far as comfort goes, finding a vehicle won't be the slightest bit of a struggle. The interiors are thoughtfully designed down to the smallest detail, with most elements crafted from genuine leather or very high-quality synthetic leather. The cabin space is typically quite generous, ensuring all passengers feel perfectly comfortable.

https://hr.expertevolux.com/top-samy...lej-iz-kitaja/

Zachary Jackson4 said:Major powers like China, Israel, the Arab League, and India, as far as I can tell, haven't imposed any sanctions. It’s clearly the East against the West.

I honestly can't decide who's more surprising: Israel or the Arabs.

I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing more and more of these kinds of surprises lately. It feels like just when you think you've finally grasped the rhythm of things, something completely unexpected shifts the landscape again. I remember back when I was working in logistics near Chicago, we always thought we had our contingency plans perfected, yet every single week brought some bizarre anomaly that no manual could have ever predicted. It seems like that pattern is repeating itself on a much larger scale now.

Tehran has recently put forward a proposal to establish an international currency specifically designed for trade settlements between Russia, Pakistan, India, China, Iran, and other member nations within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. It’s an interesting move that makes me think about how much the global financial landscape is shifting under our feet. I remember reading a piece in the Wall Street Journal a few years back discussing similar efforts to bypass traditional Western systems, and seeing these major players actually coordinate on such a massive scale feels like we're watching history unfold in real-time. It’s a deliberate attempt to reshape how these economies interact with one another outside of the usual channels.

I was reading through some recent reports regarding the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and it really strikes me how much the global energy landscape is being reshaped by this conflict. It’s one thing to read about geopolitical shifts in a textbook, but seeing how it actually impacts things like gas prices or supply chains makes it feel much more immediate. There is a lot of discussion lately about how the West is trying to navigate its dependence on Russian energy while simultaneously imposing sanctions to pressure Moscow. It reminds me of a few years ago when I was working in logistics; we used to see how a single hiccup in a major shipping lane could send ripples through the entire economy. Now, we are looking at a massive restructuring of how Europe manages its heating and fuel needs. The situation is incredibly complex. You have the heavy hitters like the U.S. and the UK trying to coordinate a unified front, while also weighing the economic fallout of decoupling from Russian resources. It isn't just about politics; it's about whether a household in the Midwest or a factory in Germany can afford to keep the lights on if the supply lines shift too drastically. We are essentially watching a high-stakes game of chess where the pieces are commodities and the board is the entire global economy. It’s a sobering reminder of how interconnected we all truly are, regardless of how much we talk about sovereignty or borders.

Since that's just how some people write, I tend to assume whatever they're putting out there is nothing more than a complete fabrication.😉

The Morning is reporting on this, but let’s be honest—they’re probably spinning the truth just like they always do.

The ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine and those crushing "hellish sanctions" being slapped on by the West are triggering a massive shift in the global geopolitical landscape—one that’s already well underway. When you look specifically at Russia itself, the most profound transformation is this complete political, social, economic, and cultural pivot away from Europe and toward Asia. It's a fundamental realignment from the West to the East. To put it more vividly, they are turning their backs on places like London and the Azure Coast, shifting their entire focus toward the vast stretches of Siberia.

I was reading an interesting piece in the Morning earlier today about how much the global landscape is shifting, and it really got me thinking about the sheer scale of the current geopolitical friction. It seems like we are constantly watching these massive powers maneuver around one another, almost like a high-stakes game of chess where the board keeps expanding. The article touched on the increasing tension between the West and the East, particularly focusing on how trade dependencies are being weaponized. I remember back when I was working in logistics a few years ago, we used to take global supply chains for granted—you just assumed the goods would show up at the warehouse in Chicago or Los Angeles without a second thought. But now, everything feels so fragile. Whether it's energy security or the flow of semiconductors, the way countries like the US and China interact isn't just about business anymore; it’s about fundamental national survival. There is this sense that the old rules, the ones we all learned in school about how international relations work, are being rewritten in real-time. You see it in the way the European Union is trying to navigate its own energy needs while balancing relations with both Washington, D.C. and various Eastern interests. It feels like there is no "neutral" ground left. Every decision made by a major power sends ripples through the entire system, affecting everything from the price of gas at a station in Ohio to the stability of markets on Wall Street. It’s a lot to process, and honestly, it can feel a bit overwhelming to watch the news lately. It makes you realize how interconnected we all truly are, even if we don't always want to be. We aren't just spectators in this; the shifts happening in places halfway across the world eventually find their way to our doorstep.

Oil smuggling is absolutely booming right now—it’s basically the modern-day version of bootlegging during Prohibition..

https://www.logicno.com/politika/sad...og-goriva.html

dustyowl29 said:Oil smuggling is absolutely booming right now—it’s basically the modern-day version of bootlegging during Prohibition..

https://www.logicno.com/politika/sad...og-goriva.html

Hydrocarbons. 🙏 🙏
The most absurd part of this fiction from RIA Novosti is the claim that they are loading tankers with Arabic oil at an exact 70-30 ratio.
But here is the kicker—they supposedly approach an Indian vessel that is already carrying Arabic oil and then mix them. Miracles truly do happen out in the Indian Ocean!

It’s pretty funny how they don't bother including any links to the sources or even the actual article titles.

Basically, for that piece put out on July 7th, they had to dig a little further back in time:

Wall Street Journal, April 21st
Bloomberg, April 8th

But hey, the whole point of sites like this is just giving people exactly what they want to hear—and let's be real, most folks don't even read past the headline anyway. So, mission accomplished, I guess.