The USA, the EU, Canada, the UK and other countries such as Switzerland announced coordinated sanctions against Russia last week. The sanctions are mainly designed to block major banks from the SWIFT financial network and isolate families close to President Vladimir Putin.

However, it is well known that sanctions might encourage corruption. Until now, policymakers, academics, and even journalists have largely ignored the problem. When the choices are doing nothing or going to war, sanctions are a safe middle way. As sanctions might encourage government corruption and the development of transnational organised crime, it’s likely that the recent sanctions against Russia might unleash as collateral damage vast levels of corruption as Richard Cassin concludes in his recent article.