The United States sanctioned Europe, not Russia: A Conversation with Michael Hudson & Radhika Desai

On September 9, 2024, the European Commission issued a report on Europe’s increasingly dire economy. The author of the report, which is titled “The Future of European Competitiveness“, is Mario Draghi, the former President of the European Central Bank. Draghi’s report acknowledges that Europe’s loss of access to Russian pipeline gas has resulted in “huge cost to Europe“. Yet Draghi does not argue for the restoration of Europe’s access to Russian gas. Rather, he recommends that Europe make massive and “unprecedented“ investments in defence spending, decarbonization and the digitalization of Europe’s economy. On September 13, Dimitri Lascaris discussed the Draghi report with geopolitical economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson. They contend that the true victim of Western sanctions on Russia is not Russia itself, but Europe. The Draghi report can be found here: