Russia outsmarts Western sanctions—and China is paying attention
How the rise of middle powers helps America’s enemies
Nazem Ahmad, an art collector and financier, who owns work by Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso, has been under American sanctions since 2019. That may sound like a problem, but it has not stopped him from smuggling half a billion or so dollars for Hizbullah, a Lebanese militant group, according to America’s Treasury. He moves art, cash and gems across borders via galleries in the Ivory Coast, family offices in the UAE and portfolio firms in Hong Kong. His financial tapestry is underpinned by bank accounts in America.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Sanctions, what sanctions?”
Finance & economics February 24th 2024
- Russia outsmarts Western sanctions—and China is paying attention
- Europe faces a painful adjustment to higher defence spending
- Should you put all your savings into stocks?
- As the Nikkei 225 hits record highs, Japan’s young start investing
- Gucci, Prada and Tiffany’s bet big on property
- Trump wants to whack Chinese firms. How badly could he hurt them?
From the February 24th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Trump wastes no time in reigniting trade wars
Canada and Mexico look likely to suffer
How Trump, Starmer and Macron can avoid a debt crunch
With deficits soaring, their finance ministers will have to be smart
What Scott Bessent’s appointment means for the Trump administration
The president-elect’s nominee for treasury secretary faces a gruelling job
What Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders get wrong about credit cards
Forget interest rates. Rewards are the real problem
Computers unleashed economic growth. Will artificial intelligence?
Two years after ChatGPT-3.5 arrived, progress has been slower than expected
Should investors just give up on stocks outside America?
No, but it is getting a lot harder to keep the faith
