New American sanctions against Russia will lead to Russians rallying even more around Putin, пишет German magazine Der Spiegel.
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The approximately 70-page law passed in the United States, the publication notes, “reads in some parts as a declaration of economic war on Russia” and is aimed at “bringing Russia to its knees economically.”
“At the same time, those in power in Washington do not realize the role of the decisive mechanisms of Russian politics. If Russians get the impression that foreign countries are putting pressure on their homeland, they are more likely to rally around their president, even if they are critical of him in the area of domestic policy. Moscow sociologist and economist Mikhail Dmitriev called this phenomenon “defensive patriotism,” warns the German publication.
“According to the logic of crime and punishment, the sanctions could be understood. But they are not smart. If this law comes into force, the positions of hardliners around Putin in Moscow will become even stronger. They have been advocating political and economic decoupling from the West for many years. More precisely, from the end of 2011 to the beginning of 2012, when Putin’s popularity, according to polls, fell,” Der Spiegel summarizes.