Rage Against the Russian Central Bank: A Carte Blanche for International Monetary Law?

On the 24th of February 2022, Russia undertook the largest land invasion into a sovereign state since World War II. The unprecedented move was met with a swift deployment of economic tools to deter the invasion and increase Russia’s costs of sustaining the military effort in the long term. As a result of this economic warfare between Russia and the Global North, sovereign assets of more than 300 Billion US Dollars belonging to the Russian Central Bank (RCB) have been frozen. This constituted the largest seizure of sovereign assets since World War II. As of June 2024, calls in the United States and the European Union to use the RCB assets for Ukraine’s military and humanitarian efforts have only been amplifying. These voices neglect international legal perspectives- specifically from the Global South- which highlight the discourses on sovereign immunity and countermeasures. These voices probe the following questions: What do the RCB sanctions mean for the existing sovereign immunity...Show moreOn the 24th of February 2022, Russia undertook the largest land invasion into a sovereign state since World War II. The unprecedented move was met with a swift deployment of economic tools to deter the invasion and increase Russia’s costs of sustaining the military effort in the long term. As a result of this economic warfare between Russia and the Global North, sovereign assets of more than 300 Billion US Dollars belonging to the Russian Central Bank (RCB) have been frozen. This constituted the largest seizure of sovereign assets since World War II. As of June 2024, calls in the United States and the European Union to use the RCB assets for Ukraine’s military and humanitarian efforts have only been amplifying. These voices neglect international legal perspectives- specifically from the Global South- which highlight the discourses on sovereign immunity and countermeasures. These voices probe the following questions: What do the RCB sanctions mean for the existing sovereign immunity regime? What is the validity of the countermeasures doctrine with regards to the RCB? And most importantly, what do such measures mean for Western financial hegemony? This thesis encapsulates all these legal discourses by asking the question: What is the legality of the Global North states’ sanctions against the Russian Central Bank?Show less

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Rage Against the Russian Central Bank: A Carte Blanche for International Monetary Law?