AMAC Exclusive – By Andrew Abbott
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked the largest divestiture from a major world power since the Cold War, as dozens of Western companies rush to cut ties with Russia while world leaders attempt to use sanctions to cripple the Russian economy. However, some commentators have raised concerns about this attempt to effectively “cancel” an entire country, arguing that such an unprecedented targeting of every Russian citizen by both Western governments and private companies could set a dangerous precedent for those same tactics to be used in the future in far less extreme situations – as has already been the case when it came to things like the Freedom Convoy in Canada earlier this year.
As soon as Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine late last month, Western governments immediately began leveling sanctions on the Putin regime to undermine its ability to wage war and make life generally more difficult for Russia’s rich and powerful. Authorities seized everything from yachts to private jets belonging to Russian oligarchs, and eventually cut Russia off from the SWIFT international banking system, leading to a crash of the Russian stock market. Many Western nations have also frozen Russian funds in their financial institutions, leading to a run on Russian banks and the dramatic devaluation of the ruble.
Another devastating blow to the Russian economy has been dealt by private companies, of which more than 300 have elected to leave the country altogether. McDonalds and Starbucks have pulled out, while Volkswagen and Toyota have halted production in Russia. While these losses are sure to make the lives of ordinary Russians less convenient, it’s the departure of financial services companies like Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal which are likely to cause real pain. Ninety percent of all global transactions outside of China are run through Mastercard and Visa – meaning that the vast majority of Russian citizens will suddenly find themselves unable to make purchases online or without hard cash.
Some foreign policy experts have already raised concerns that such measures may have the unintended effect of turning the Russian population, which has thus far been divided over Putin’s war on Ukraine, firmly against the West. Additionally, Western divestment is already driving Russia and China closer together, raising the alarming prospect of a unified Russian-Chinese front against the U.S. and its allies.
Nonetheless, most people generally support the government sanctions and divestment given Putin’s egregious actions to violate the sovereignty of Ukraine. But the global “cancellation” of Russia should also make people cautious about how those same tactics may be leveraged by “woke” companies in the future against other “enemies” that are far less clearly defined.
For example, some Democrats and journalists are already equating Ukraine to Palestine and Russia to Israel. For years, elected Democrats have pushed for the “Boycott, Divestiture, and Sanction” (BDS Movement) of Israel. BDS Movement Leader Yousef Munayyer even stated that Members of Congress were “hypocrites” for supporting divestment from Russia but not from Israel. Should the supercharged cancel culture machine now firmly fixed on Russia be turned on Israel, the results could be devastating for American national security interests in the Middle East. Even worse, some wonder whether these tactics might be turned against domestic political opponents.
The dangers of such extreme cancellation tactics are not just theoretical. Just last year, President Biden ordered the FBI to investigate parents who spoke up at school board meetings as “domestic terrorists.” Following the passage of an election integrity law in Georgia last spring, Major League Baseball moved it’s All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver, a move that only served to hurt Atlanta businesses that had nothing to do with the passage of the law.
Additionally, earlier this year, the world saw a coordinated effort on the part of corporations and the Canadian government to target individuals who supported the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa.
Supporters of the Freedom Convoy donated over $9 million to the movement using the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe. In an unprecedented move, the website shut down the fundraiser and announced they would confiscate all $9 million and redistribute it to their “approved” causes (in other words, left-wing movements). GoFundMe’s justification for the move were reports of supposed “unlawful activity” carried out by the protesters, yet the company provided no examples of anyone breaking the law. This raised eyebrows for many who noted that the site facilitated fundraising for protests that often did turn violent following the death of George Floyd in 2020, as well as hosting fundraisers that were used to pay bail for violent criminals.
GoFundMe’s confiscation of Freedom Convoy funds was met with such severe backlash that the website acquiesced and refunded the donors. When supporters shifted these funds to the Christian crowdfunding platform, GiveSendGo, however, hackers broke into the site, stole the donor list, and released it to the general public. While “doxing” incidents like this are not unprecedented, what was shocking was how the media responded. Multiple mainstream outlets published names and addresses and even tracked down families in an apparent attempt to shame, or “cancel,” them.
In addition, the Canadian government targeted ordinary citizens for donating small sums to the nonviolent protest. In one case, a single mom who donated $50 to the Freedom Convoy had her bank account frozen. The Canadian government in effect waged a similar financial war against its own citizens that the West is now waging against Russia – and in this case, it wasn’t over a military invasion of a foreign country, but a peaceful protest against government overreach.
It remains to be seen whether Western efforts to use economic pressure to deter Putin’s military aggression will ultimately be effective. Putin’s actions are undoubtedly a blatant violation of international norms and human rights, and the West would be remiss not to address them. But now that the ability to “cancel” not just an individual but an entire country has been proven, it’s worth asking if this new method of government coercion may be a Pandora’s Box better left unopened. At the very least, conservatives in the United States should remain vigilant should the ever-power-hungry radical left seek to turn the methods of economic warfare now leveraged against Russia against them, too.
Andrew Abbott is the pen name of a writer and public affairs consultant with over a decade of experience in DC at the intersection of politics and culture.