Law Commons^™

Sanctions And Consequences: Third-State Impacts And The Development Of International Law In The Shadow Of Unilateral Sanctions On Russia, Avidan Cover

Faculty Publications

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NATO member states and their allies have imposed “unprecedented,” unilateral economic sanctions to hold Russia accountable, degrade its military capability, and limit its international financial access.1 From the outset, sanctioning states such as the United States have stated that they “designed these sanctions to maximize the long-term impact on Russia and to minimize the impact on [themselves and their] allies.”2 These sanctions on an economic power like Russia “have global economic effects far greater than anything seen before.”3 And there is concern that the unintended consequences of the sanctions will disproportionately harm developing …

Political Default. The Implications Of Weaponizing Global Financial Infrastructure, Lev E. Breydo

Faculty Publications

In response to Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. has led a broad-based global coalition to punish the aggressor with an “unprecedented” sanction regime. Those measures have targeted “the Russian government’s basic tools to manage its macroeconomy,” with a particular emphasis on its sovereign debt. That concerted focus, as this Article empirically demonstrates through analysis of bond and credit default swap data, ultimately resulted in Russia’s first foreign currency debt default in over a century — despite the nation’s ability and seeming willingness to pay.

Notwithstanding aptly-deserved “just deserts” considerations, a forced — or “political” — Russian sovereign debt …

Turning Sanctions Into Reparations: Lessons For Russia/Ukraine, Evan J. Criddle

Faculty Publications

Within the past year, members of Congress have introduced nearly a dozen bills to make Russia pay for its military aggression against Ukraine. This Essay argues that none of the bills are satisfactory because they would either violate international law or fail to deliver meaningful compensation to Ukraine. Instead, the Essay urges policymakers to use economic sanctions as leverage to compel Russia to make reparations through an international claims-settlement process.

Russia's Roulette: Sanctions, Strange Contracts & Sovereign Default, Lev E. Breydo

Faculty Publications

This Article is the first comprehensive, multi-disciplinary analysis of Russia’s sovereign debt and the consequences of a potential default.

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This Article introduces a Russian debt taxonomy divided into four distinctive categories. Starting with relatively standard terms in late-1990s vintage bonds, over time and as a close function of geo-political developments, the contracts grew unusual—bordering towards lawless.

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The rest of this Article is organized in four parts. Part II provides critical background regarding Russia’s sovereign debt and details key legal provisions likely implicated in the event of a default. Part III discusses how, due to the complex interplay between …