Punishing Putin — Stephanie Baker makes sanctions sexy!
I must admit, I picked up this book slightly worried about it being able to hold my focus — given that ‘sanctions’ is one of those eye-glazing words, (ask any news editor!)
I should have trusted my knowledge about the author, Bloomberg’s veteran investigations reporter and former Russia correspondent Stephanie Baker. She has penned a ridiculously readable book about the sanctions whacked on Russian entities following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
This was a total delight to read and is the best book I’ve picked up all year. I planned to read two chapters to begin with and ended up a third of the way through the book by bedtime.
Written like a thriller, it charts the imposition of the sanctions through its architects — bureaucrats in the White House and European Commission, then documents their success or otherwise. There’s an amazing chapter detailing how the Americans impounded a superyacht in Fiji and have been paying millions for its upkeep ever since, while it battles its alleged owner in the courts.
I also enjoyed her flashback to the 90s and the rise of Putin and how that shaped the modern economy the United States and Europe are trying to strangle today. I think too many commentators forget that a lot of the public (my age and younger) don’t have a living/adult memory of this period and it was too contemporary to have been taught about it in school.
One of the most fascinating chapters is the dilemma that the post-Soviet race to invest in Russia posed to Western companies who had spent decades and fortunes building up their empires in Russia, only to have to sell or be essentially taken over once the war began.
The chapter on McDonalds was particularly enlightening.
Putin’s invasion forced many companies into uncharted territory, in which political decisions were at least as significant as financial ones.
There was a naive belief in some circles that the war would be over quickly so it might be best to wait it out. Other companies took their time to find the right buyer to try to extract more value, a calculation that in some case proved more costly than a quick exit—for their brands, their executives and their bottom lines.
News of McDonald’s decision to shutter restaurants created havoc. Long lines formed at outlets across the country. Some Russians started hoarding burgers. When Paroev ordered all McDonald’s restaurants in Russia to close, some franchisees refused to comply.
McDonald’s was haemorrhaging money. Ozan, the CFO, said at an investor conference in March that staying closed would cost $50 million a month, but he indicated he thought business could resume.
‘We expect this to be temporary,’ Ozan said. ‘We think it’s the right thing to do, both for the global business and for our people locally.’
But as the weeks passed and the war intensified, it became clear that Western sanctions would make it difficult to keep operating in Russia. The US government put full blocking sanctions on state-controlled Sberbank, which barred US citizens from dealing directly or indirectly with Russia’s largest bank. Payroll suddenly became questionable. Paroev told me most McDonald’s employees in Russia had personal accounts at Sberbank, which was the only option in some rural areas.
Then, in early April, just days after a Russian massacre of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha came to light, the Biden administration banned new investment in Russia and prohibited the supply of services ‘by a US person, wherever located.’
It was a purposefully ambiguous move designed to cause companies to exit Russia. Global executives with businesses in Russia panicked.
‘The investment restrictions were about methodically ejecting Russia from the international economic order, which included multinational companies,’ Daleep Singh, Biden’s deputy national security adviser for international economics, told me.
Not long after the April investment ban, Kempczinski and the McDonald’s board concluded it was game over. They decided to take the radical step of selling the Russian operations outright.
I’m thrilled to say I’ll have Stephanie on the podcast this weekend so do listen out for her — I learnt more from this book about sanctions, evasion and economic warfare than from any briefing I’ve ever received.
I couldn’t recommend Punishing Putin more. Somehow, Stephanie has made sanctions a thoroughly sexy topic and it’s five stars from me.
Netanhayu’s very good month
Few are mourning the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza this week and Israelis are jubilant.
The killing of Hamas and Hezbollah’s leaders in the space of a month, and in defiance of the ‘Ceasefire now’ demands, is a redemption moment for Benjamin Netanyahu who has increasingly isolated Israel globally and was tanking in the polls even before the October 7 attacks, when Israeli defences were so tragically shown up.
In Israel, where Benjamin Netanyahu is still blamed by many for the security failures that led to the death of 1200 people, mostly civilians, and the abduction of 250 in the 7 October attacks, Sinwar’s killing will greatly reinforce the prime minister’s political position and rally his hardline rightwing support base. Netanyahu’s poll ratings were already improving after a series of tactical successes in Lebanon, including the assassination of Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, and quickly there were reports of celebrations in Jerusalem on Thursday.
The death of Sinwar will undoubtedly be seen by some Israelis, including many in senior posts in the military, intelligence services and government, as a moment to declare victory in Gaza and end what is widely seen as a draining, if necessary, campaign. But how much real difference this could make on the ground is unclear.
One possibility is that ceasefire negotiations will receive a boost now that one of the two individuals who have been accused of blocking any deal is gone. But the attitude of any successor to Sinwar to talks may not be that different, and Netanyahu has always insisted that military pressure is what will bring back the 100 or so hostages in Gaza, of whom only half are thought to still be alive. The chances of Netanyahu now agreeing to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including many who have killed Israelis, and make other painful concessions must be slim.
Amazon and Google BYOP with small modular reactors
Artificial intelligence, cloud computing and cryptocurrencies all amount to a lot more energy use.
How to power this is something tech companies are grappling with and Google and Amazon are following a path some governments, like Australia’s Labor government, are refusing to contemplate — nuclear.
Both companies are backing small modular reactors to power their future computing needs.
The plans come as the owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant said last month it plans to restart the reactor so tech giant Microsoft can buy the power to supply its data centres. All three companies have been investing in solar and wind technologies, which make electricity without producing greenhouse gas emissions. Now they say they need to go further in the search for clean electricity to meet both demand and their own commitments to cut emissions.
Nuclear energy is a climate solution in that its reactors don’t emit the planet-warming greenhouse gases that come from power plants that burn fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and gas. The demand for power is surging globally as buildings and vehicles electrify. People used more electricity than ever last year, placing strain on electric grids around the world. Much of the demand also comes from data centres and artificial intelligence.
The International Energy Agency forecasts that data centres’ total electricity consumption could reach more than 1,000 terawatt hours in 2026, more than doubling from 2022. Estimates suggest one terawatt hour can power 70,000 homes for a year.
‘AI is driving a significant increase in the amount of data centres and power that are required on the grid,’ Kevin Miller, Amazon Web Services vice president of global data centres, told The Associated Press, adding: ‘We view advanced new nuclear capacity as really key and essential.’
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said she’s thrilled Amazon is the latest to ‘BYOP’ or ‘bring your own power’ to the buildout of data centres.
Whale orgy in WA
Behold the wonder of drones meeting nature. A West Australian resident has captured stunning footage of whales mating and it turns out this particular species — Southern right whales — are into, well, there’s no nice way to put this — but essentially, gang bangs.
But it’s all a good sign after decades of whaling.
Mating can start with a female southern right putting out a call which travels underwater, Ms Markovich said.
‘The males will hear that and they'll swim over and, basically, a whale orgy starts,‘ she said.
‘It's almost like a dance when there's physical stamina, they're agile and it's quite graceful actually.’
Ms Markovic said the female would lead, with the male ‘mirroring’ her movements.
It can lead to male whales fighting for attention.
‘The males will push and shove, but it's relatively non-violent and they kind of just bump into each other like bumper cars,’ she said.
Multiple males will mate with one female, creating the best chance of impregnation.
Ms Markovic said southern right whales had the largest testicles of any animal on earth.
‘They can weigh up to 500kg each, so they have one tonne of testicles that are inside their body,’ she said.
I have nothing further to add here.
Oedipus
This week I went to see Oeidpus which has just opened at the Wyndham’s Theatre starring Mark Strong and Lesley Manville.
The Greek tragedy in which Oeidpus kills his father and falls in love with his mother (which I knew nothing about before seeing) has been modernised and set as a political tragedy — Oeidpus’ revelations are triggered by his promise, made on the cusp of winning office, to release his birth certificate.
I very much enjoyed this play and the cast was its strength.
Much of this is down to the exceptional cast.
Mark Strong, onstage throughout the play’s two hours, exudes energy, a larger-than-life Oedipus with a politician’s charisma but also a father’s tenderness.
Lesley Manville captivates as Jocasta, her witty carelessness making her eventual emotional collapse all the more harrowing. The pair begin with the easy rapport of a long-married couple, progressing to burning sexual chemistry, played out to its excruciating erotic conclusion before an audience wincing at their unknowing incest. They are disarmingly sympathetic.
Oedipus poses a challenge: how to make this tragedy resonate when the story is so outlandish and relies on so many gut-wrenching coincidences? Icke’s production answers by emphasising normalcy.
A good-natured spat at the dinner table that could play out in any family kitchen. The tensions when adult children face the decline of elderly parents. A husband and wife who persevered through decades of struggles, believing there was nothing they did not know about each other.
Those who know the story can spot the clues, but we are also shown why Oedipus, a man who believes himself uniquely capable of pursuing knowledge, does not.
As the set is gradually deconstructed, mirroring how the layers of ignorance are gradually stripped away, the audience watches realisation dawn on the characters – and that realisation is no less distressing for the fact we already knew it.
And that’s my list for this week.
This week I chatted an Australian Republic and more with Vincent McAviney on Moncole on Saturday, spoke to Times Radio on Sunday with former Tory MP
to discuss the week that was and joined Andrew Mueller on Monocle Radio’s The Daily on Wednesday.Please do send me anything that’s caught your eye, I enjoy knowing what you’ve been reading.
Some of you have started to offer me copies of your books etc. Please email me at latika@latikambourke.com for a forwarding address for hard copies.