[Salon] FT finally admitting that economic sanctions on Russia have been a complete failure

https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1753639975839768865

The FT finally admitting that economic sanctions on Russia have been a complete failure (which was immensely predictable, in fact I wrote an article saying it'd be the case in May 2022: https://tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/is-america-the-real-victim-of-anti-russia-sanctions…). It is without a doubt one of the most significant economic stories of the century, starkly demonstrating the West's diminishing power. Despite Bruno Le Maire, France's Minister of the Economy, claiming the West would "cause the collapse of the Russian economy," Russia's economic growth in 2023 surpassed that of all G7 countries—almost quadrupling France's growth rate—and is projected to continue this trend in 2024 (see attached FT graph). It's nothing short of extraordinary. As Vladimir Putin is quoted as saying in the FT article, "Russia’s economy had not only withstood an onslaught of sanctions from western countries — but [is] now bigger than all but two of them." (!) It is also yet another proof, if need be, of Western hubris, of the West living in a glorious mental universe where they think they can bring the rest of the world to heel. This proves the immense - tectonic size - gap between what they believe and reality. It shows that whilst they think they inhabit a world in which they lead, we've in fact fully entered the multipolar era. In almost all his movies, Will Ferrell essentially always plays a version of the same character: that of the uber-confident guy who isn't aware he's in fact a complete loser. It's absolutely hilarious (I love Will Ferrell movies!) but also on a more serious level a commentary on the tragedy of self-deception. There's a subtle layer of pathos in his characters' inability to see themselves as they truly are, on the fine line between confidence and delusion. And it's all the more tragic and much less funny if it happens on the scale of entire countries... It also obviously raises the question of China, whose economy is six times the size of Russia's in PPP terms and 20% larger than that of the U.S.. What happened with Russia demonstrates, clearly, that they now command more economic power than the West. It was a form of tug of war with the West saying we'll “cause the collapse of the Russian economy” and China saying "we don't want to." And the result is the Russian economy didn't collapse, it grew faster than the West (and so did China's). That means something... In conclusion, it is imperative for the West to confront reality and shed its old colonialist worldview. Time and time again now, the West emerges as the principal victim of its own delusions, the global Will Ferrell. Everything points to the fact that the rest of the world is more attuned to the realities in place, and when your actions are based on a humble assessment of the truth rather than on hubris, the outcome is better, it's that simple. When reality keeps punching you in the face, at some point you need to wake up. Link to the FT article: https://ft.com/content/d304a182-997d-4dae-98a1-aa7c691526db