Can the West Stop Russia by Strangling Its Economy?
About this episode
Columbia economic historian Adam Tooze explains the unprecedented financial war the West is waging against Russia — freezing central bank reserves, cutting banks from SWIFT, and imposing sanctions meant, in a Biden official's phrase, to turn the ruble into 'rubble.' Tooze walks through why these measures are so potent: Russia's integration into global finance makes it uniquely vulnerable to being severed from it, a weapon even the 2008 crisis never produced. He discusses the risks of escalation, including Russia defaulting or weaponizing energy exports, the painful trade-offs Europe faces over oil and gas carve-outs, and why he sees this moment as a rupture in the global economic order. The conversation closes with longer-term implications for China's reserve strategy, climate policy, and the return of industrial statecraft.