'..the Soviet Union was cut off from Western financial markets and was effectively under permanent sanctions..'

'In the real Cold War, after all, the Soviet Union was cut off from Western financial markets and was effectively under permanent sanctions in the form of CoCom export restrictions.

And that's a place the Russian elite -- which has grown fond of the goodies Western economies offer even as they flout Western rules -- does not want to go.'

- That Cold War Movie, April 27, 2016



Context

'Sanctions against Russia will remain in place until Crimea is returned to Ukraine..'

U.S. sends F-22 fighters to reassure NATO allies facing Russia, April 26, 2016

U.S. F-22s land in Lithuania in show of force amid Russia tensions, April 27, 2016