Biden has declared an emergency situation in connection with “Russian interference” in the American elections, hacker attacks and military exercises near the borders of Ukraine.
This is not the first emergency in the three months of Biden’s presidency. Immediately after his inauguration, he similarly vaguely declared a “climate emergency” due to carbon dioxide emissions and global warming.
Moreover, Biden’s team is still hesitating to establish an emergency regime in connection with a real international crisis – a wave of uncontrolled migration, which has swept the US borders since December. The rate of illegal migration is at a record level in 15 years.
An emergency regime is a bureaucratic procedure that allows specialized agencies to channel money from their emergency funds to solve it. In addition, it gives Biden the right to create the post of a special “tsar” – in this case, to resolve the situation with Russia.
Just the other day, the Biden administration started talking about the possibility of appointing Matthew Rojansky presidential advisor on Russian affairs. He is the director of the Kennan Institute, a neorealist ideological center, and is considered one of the architects of the 2009 relationship reset.
In any case, Rojanski will have to work in unique conditions – never before has the United States declared an emergency regime in connection with international relations. Although such a step is largely symbolic and, as it were, shows that the possibilities of sanctions pressure have almost dried up.
The latest sanctions instrument is the disconnection of Russia from SWIFT – but this will cause an avalanche effect of the transition of states to alternative payment systems and call into question the post-Bretton Woods consensus. Therefore, the United States is not yet ready to go that far.