Faculty Fellow Susanne Wengle writes an article in The Washington Post titled “Ordinary Russians Already Worried about Rising Food Prices. Then Came War and Sanctions.”
Wengle explains how Putin, in the past years in power, has created a safety net to insulate the fluidity of the economy and how these tactics may cushion Western sanctions put in place. However, Wengle believes, “if the cost of the war becomes increasingly painful and obvious to see for everyone via the price of food, the silent and patriotic majority might be more likely to join the small minority who call for an end to the war. Or at least that is the West’s hope.”