Europe is considering a ban on Russian tourism in response to the war in Ukraine. Four of the five EU nations that border Russia have already started blocking Russian visitors. Restricting travel would be the latest in a series of sanctions that have battered Russia since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion on Feb. 24. Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan says Europe enacting a ban on Russian tourism would aim to have the same goal as restrictions that hit South Africa when it was under apartheid. That goal? To let everyday Russians know they are not part of the civilized world any longer.
Excerpted from Peter’s Sept. 20 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:
European nations are debating a potential Russian tourist ban, with the general theme being “you shouldn’t be able to visit our beaches and luxury shops while simultaneously supporting a regime declaring war against Ukraine (and potentially the West).”Europe being Europe, there are a range of attitudes expressed. The Scandinavians, Polish and Baltic states on the frontline with Russia are the most vociferously opposed to allowing any Russian tourism into their respective countries and the EU. France and Germany have been more circumspect. Given the number of Russian elite who vacation, send their children to live in, and shop in European cities, there are those that argue that such a ban will help further cleave Vladimir Putin from the small but crucial cadre atop Russia society.
The template for this would be South Africa under apartheid. At that point, you had a country where 10 to 15% of the population basically imposed its will on everyone else.
Ugly system, and as a result, the Europeans and some other countries prevented South African passports from being used easily in the rest of the world.
And the point here wasn’t necessarily to punish or force an immediate change. There was no way that an economic system as entrenched and beneficial to the minority such as we had under apartheid could be easily shifted just because of tourism. And that’s not the goal here with Russia.
Instead it is to impress upon everyday Russians, just like they did with everyday white Africans, that you are no longer part of the civilized world. And you will not be treated as such and until such time as you start abiding by some really basic concepts when it comes to human dignity, you are not welcome in the advanced system.