The recent tensions in between Russia and Ukraine have been met with a largely negative reaction from western nations such as the U.S. and many member nations of the European Union. Warnings and condemnations were made of Russia’s advances initially, followed by increasingly severe economic sanctions leveled against high ranking Russian officials. These measures are understandable, as Russia’s armed takeover of a part of another nation in Crimea is unacceptable. However, they come with negative ramifications.
The problem with sanctions is that they don’t simply affect the officials targeted by them, but also trickle down and negatively impact everyone in a nation. Because of this, average Russians who had nothing to do with Putin’s aggressive agenda and may have even condemned it are expected to pay the price for their leaders violent advances.
This situation is similar to the sanctions imposed on Penn State by the NCAA after the Jerry Sandusky scandal. The university was banned from participating in bowl games for four years, forced to pay a $60 million fine and lost several football scholarships. The NCAA certainly got their message across that failing to eradicate sexual abuse is intolerable. However, they did so at the expense of tens of thousands of members of the Penn State community who did nothing wrong and were unaware of the situation until it was a national news headline.
The NCAA’s decision to allow Penn State players to transfer to another school to play football without having to sit out a season like they otherwise would have was a great move. That gave players who were haunted by the scandal a chance to finish their college football career in a fresh new environment that was uninhibited by sanctions.
The same logic applies to Crimeans who find themselves in the midst of an ugly conflict between bordering Slavic nations. Although the vast majority of Crimeans voted for annexation by Russia, they did so under the pressure of armed Russian soldiers looking over them, making the results an inaccurate representation of public opinion. The best thing the U.S. can do to help those Crimeans who voted against Russian annexation, or those who only voted for it out of fear, is to extend them the right to asylum in the U.S. The same should apply to Russians who are disillusioned by Putin’s advances in Ukraine, or who are facing persecution under the country’s discriminatory new anti-homosexuality law. Doing so would be a perfect opportunity to show condemnation of Putin’s agenda while preventing sanctions leveled against him from hurting those who aren’t responsible for it.