Sanctions

New sanctions on Russia would have serious adverse effects on the US

“Do something!” is a perennial Beltway imperative. In the current context, that “something” is to impose economic sanctions on the Russians as a penalty for their interference in our elections.

Would such sanctions actually prove effective at reducing such interference? It is clear that those Russian efforts – comprising voter influence on social media, cyberattacks on political parties and attempted hacking into state election systems – were extensive and had important political effects in the U.S.

But it remains the case that a new round of sanctions would have little effect on the Russians, but serious adverse effects on the U.S., a perverse outcome about which proponents of a new round of sanctions seem not to be very curious.

This latest effort to “Do something!” comes in the form of the Defending American Security From Kremlin Aggression Act (DASKAA), sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). It would prohibit U.S. firms from participating in any energy project anywhere in the world if a Russian firm is involved in any way, however minor.