Departures With Robert Amsterdam

As Russia's conflict with Ukraine grinds deep into year 2, there are signals of impatience and exhaustion among the country's key supporters in the United States and Europe, and increasing chatter about "stalemate" and pushing Kyiv to the negotiating table. But even for the staunch isolationists who view the outcome of the conflict through the short-term lens, there are deep and profound implications for the future of the global economic system at stake, argues journalist Maximilian Hess in a new book. Hess's new book, "Economic War: Ukraine and the Global Conflict between Russia and the West," does not dwell long on the political motivations or the strategic calculations of the military conflict, but instead focuses on how the response after the 2014 annexation of Crimea prompted a rapid expansion of sanctions, trade disputes, and barrage of financial weapons between Russia and the West.  These tensions have escalated to the point that the current war shouldn't be viewed so narrowly as merely a land grab or