Invasion brings Russia global repudiation with Cold War echoes

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Although these grassroots gestures inflict less harm on Russia's economy than sweeping restrictions on Russian banks or the mothballing of a natural gas pipeline, they carry a potent symbolic punch, leaving millions of ordinary Russians isolated in an interconnected world.

Russia's Formula 1 Grand Prix, scheduled for September in Sochi, has been scrapped. Saint Petersburg has lost the Champions League soccer final, which was relocated to Paris.

Israel, in its own way, serves as an example of the limits of these kinds of boycotts. For years, critics of its occupation of the West Bank have tried to pressure the government through the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. Although it has had successes, it has antagonised people on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide and failed to pressure successive Israeli leaders to change policy toward the Palestinians.

For many, the idea of supporting Russia is simply intolerable. Pennsylvania, Utah, Ohio, New Hampshire and other states, as well as Canada, have pulled Russian-branded vodka off the shelves of liquor stores.

Qn: How far should countries have relations with others whose human rights record is poor? (Cam. 2019)