Mark Dixon

The West must move on from the last four years of economic skirmishes and declare an "Economic World War" against Russia. The $70 billion budget deficit that Russia faced at the start of the year did not manage to cripple its economy.  Since then, its oil exports soared 52% to 713 million euros ($836 million) per day in March compared to February, turning Western efforts into a case of one step forward and two steps back. Russia's windfall from oil inflation has been further boosted by U.S. Pr

Putin has shot himself in the foot. His recent expropriations of Western companies will actually help the West by damaging the Russian economy. Expropriating the Russian assets of French company Danone and Danish company Carlsberg's Baltika subsidiary is reprehensible, but Putin is unwittingly actually harming Russia. He has bitten the hand that feeds him.   The more links that are cut between Russia and the West, the more the Russian economy will suffer. Russia will find it more difficult to