Sanctions only work if enforced. Allies are now sharing real-time data on shell companies, shipping routes, and payment systems to stop evasion-using AI, satellite tracking, and joint enforcement to close the gaps.
Russia's economy defied sanctions by building shadow fleets, exploiting global loopholes, and shifting trade to China and India. The West's fragmented enforcement created gaps Russia easily filled.
Global sanctions have become fragmented, overused, and increasingly ineffective. With the U.S., EU, and UK acting separately and China and Russia building alternatives, sanctions now harm ordinary people more than targets-and risk losing all strategic power.
Western sanctions on Russia were meant to cripple its war effort, but instead, Russia adapted. The coalition is holding-but barely. Can it survive a long war, or is it already crumbling under its own weight?