Reuters — US Curbs On Russian Banks Would Be Act Of Economic War

Let that sink in. That is throwing down the gauntlet. It's going there.

Recall that the US entered WWII as a result of the US blockade of Japan, which Japan interpreted as an act of war and responded by attacking Pearl Harbor.

In a sign of how seriously Russia is taking the threat, President Vladimir Putin discussed what the Kremlin called “possible new unfriendly steps by Washington” with his Security Council on Friday.

What is especially dangerous is that just about the only Americans that understand this are those that want kinetic war with Russia to "finish the job once and for all."

To deal effectively with rising China, the US must either make Russia an ally or defeat Russia first. The former is Kissinger's solution, which has almost no chance of succeeding, and the later is insanity — psychopathy and sociopathy.

This is headed in a very bad direction. It is looking more and more like a Thucydides trap is springing.

Reuters
US Curbs On Russian Banks Would Be Act Of Economic War
Andrew Osborn, Andrey Ostroukh

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This means that Russia’s whole military and intelligence command has been mobilized to discuss the latest American sanctions....

Go figure.  Jafe Arnold draws the conclusion.

Putin’s convening of the Security Council to discuss Washington’s new sanctions suggests that Moscow is calculating a response which, given the council meeting’s military-intelligence make-up, might include measures not restricted to the economic sphere....

Fort Russ
Will Russia HIT BACK at U.S. Sanctions? Putin Convenes Security Council

Jafe Arnold

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In sum, while a China-led global economy will remain open to trade, it will be less respectful of US intellectual property, less receptive to US foreign investment, and less accommodating of US exporters and multinationals seeking a level playing field. This is the opposite of what the Trump administration says it wants. But it is the system that the administration’s own policies are likely to beget.

In further sum, globalization under China would be more socialistic than capitalistic.

Project Syndicate
Globalization with Chinese Characteristics

Barry Eichengreen | Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and formerly a senior policy adviser at the International Monetary Fund