The Economist: Russia has outsmarted the US on sanctions - China is already eyeing

By Rhod Mackenzie

Russia has outwitted all the Western sanctions imposed on it - and China is taking a closer look, writes the UK's The Economist, with a characteristic subtitle - "How the rise of the middle powers is helping America's enemies".

The world has witnessed an unprecedented rise in financial warfare. But as the West tightens restrictive measures, the ways to get around them are becoming more sophisticated.

"Visit any country that does business with the West without being guided by its principles and you will discover how companies and people from China, Russia and the Middle East, while under sanctions, still achieve their goals," the magazine admits.
Every enemy of the West faces a series of measures: first of all, trade embargoes and financial sanctions, the publication recalls. But all these measures can be countered by the growing prosperity and financial sophistication of "third countries" that have not joined and are not themselves subject to US and European sanctions.
More active US action might reduce sanctions evasion in countries that use the dollar, but it would encourage those countries to abandon the American currency. And not as much capital needs to flee to alternative financial systems created by rival countries such as China for sanctions to lose even more impact.

"The West's campaign to reassert its dominance over the global financial system could end up costing it control once and for all," warns The Economist.