Law, Power, and Justice

FRIDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2024

News Notes:

Russia: Sanctions, Wall Street Journal

• Biden announces new sanctions on Russia in response to the murder of Navalny, but the Wall Street Journal is calling them “symbolic.”  The headline says they “may be symbolic.”  The last round of sanctions didn’t seem to have much of an effect.
• The WSJ says that “US officials privately concede” that the sanctions “are likely to land a limited blow.”  Great.  Just f…ing great.
• The US has “limited options” and fears the “economic consequences a full oil embargo…would unleash in an election year.”
• They are termed: “narrowly targeted sanctions.”
• “Analysts also express doubt that the latest round will have much impact.”
• Critics say it is “another utilitarian step that only creates an illusion…as Ukraine’s defenses are crumbling…”
• The existing sanctions have, according to a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, “fallen far short of expectations.”  The new sanction are expected to prove “more symbolic than it is impactful.”
• Within the country, sanctions targeted at individuals are considered a sign of loyalty to Putin.
• Elaine Dezenski, former Department of Homeland Security official, notes that allies could transfer Russian frozen foreign currency reserves and other sovereign assets to Ukraine. 

Israel: Haaretz

The Pompeo Doctrine

• Israel announced new settlement construction in the West Bank this week. 
• In response, the Biden administration reversed one of Trump’s efforts to placate Netanyahu. 
• Even though Blinken said that: “It’s been longstanding U.S. policy…that new settlements are counterproductive…” the Trump administration implemented something called “The Pompeo Doctrine.”  Under this policy, Israeli settlements were “not per se inconsistent with international law.”  This somehow overturned previous precedent.
• (Note: How does this happen?  Trump and Pompeo can just issue a memo on their own?)
• This policy was instituted by Trump a month before he lost the 2020 election.  According to Haaretz, it was “formulated by the Kohelet Policy Forum, a right-wing think tank behind…Netanyahu’s controversial judicial overhaul efforts.”  (Note: Yet another example of authoritarian governments and authoritarian aspiring governments working in tandem.