UHV political science professor comments on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

VICTORIA, Texas — On Wednesday, Feb. 23, Russia invaded Ukraine and dropped missile strikes, declaring war. President Joe Biden said last week that the United States was prepared to respond with sanctions if Russia attacked Ukraine. On Thursday, February 24, President Biden responded by saying he was limiting exports to Russia. Additionally, Biden will send additional stronger sanctions and has teamed up with other allies.

“For months, we have been building a coalition of partners representing well over half of the global economy. 27 members of the European Union, including France, Germany, Italy, as well as the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and many others to amplify the joint impact of our response,” President Biden said.

On Thursday, February 24, Craig Goodman, associate professor of political science at UHV, said the United States has been involved for a long time. Since the Cold War, Ukraine has expressed its intention to join NATO and Russia has opposed it. According to Goodman, Biden is trying to rally international support and wants to pressure Russia to change course.

Goodman added that Russia’s limitations on importing and exporting goods are still significant.

“The problem with sanctions is that they usually take time to work. I mean this is a pretty big set of sanctions by cutting off the gas pipeline from Russia to Western Europe. Limit Russia’s ability to export goods, limit Russia’s ability to import goods,” Goodman said.

According to Goodman, this is a very difficult position for any leader to respond to. Especially when both countries have nuclear weapons. While taking into account how China and North Korea interpret this event, and then adding the pandemic to it.

“And again you put the backdrop to Covid and everything that’s going on,” he said. “It’s a really difficult situation for any political leader to handle right now.”

Additionally, Goodman said sanctions usually take a long time to work.