Economic Sanctions on Russia and Nietzsche's Will To Power

The economic sanctions on Russia as punishment for its project in Ukraine will never subdue Russia. No matter how much the Western diplomats frame economic sanctions as attempting to subdue Russian power in Ukraine, men and women related to and in-charge of the economy of Russia do not influence what goes on in Ukraine. Hence, the economic sanctions are misdirected, and it is possible that eventually a more political force will have to be utilized against the Russians.

The misdirected economic sanctions are a result of the belief held by westerners that the economic men and women (the 'wealthy capitalists') form the most important component in a nation's power structure. Westerners put a lot of emphasis on men and women of the economy, that is, on the wealthy capitalists, as the figures who could influence the politics of a nation. But, we may notice a weakness in the men and women of the economy, and this weakness is that their object of concern is monetary profit and not power, and precisely in times of conflict monetary profit and political power are not aligned. It is as if, in the west, true politics with a national and/or individual will-to-power has been lost, and the political sphere is only in service of the economy.

The problem is that this focus on the economy is coming at the expense of power. There is no connection between economy and power in the Nietzschean sense. Perhaps for Nietzsche, an economy is a sign of a nation's weakness. True, there is a kind of economic power, where wealthy capitalists can influence politics to a certain extent—but we believe this is simply when matters are concerned with the economy first and exclusively. Men and women of the economy, while themselves not shy of taking risk, do tend to shy away from power (or, they keep their wills-to-power private), whereas political will-to-power will utilize the economy for its aims without shame. The question is: should economic men and women lead the nation or the political ones? At times of conflict, at least, it seems that men and women with strong wills-to-power should come to the forefront: those that do not act in the name of their nation, but who carry their nation forward into new territory, who grasp the nation in their hands (to take it forward into undefined territory) rather than allow it to be a burden. In a true Nietzschean fashion, the nation becomes the backdrop when the game/conflict is between two wills-to-power.  

What is needed, following from Nietzsche's concept of the will-to-power, is a tyrannical form of power, a tyrannic response to the Russian project. This will-to-power is not economic, but political in its expression. The aims of this will-to-power are political interventions into the Russian project in Ukraine. As a side note, we can simply witness the great tyrants of history, such as Alexander-the-Great, to understand that the political aims of power are seldom met as easily as economic means. For one, economic aims are concerned with a fixed territory, whereas political will-to-power wants to act on and dominate another (Ukranian) will-to-power as much as possible...even when the territory is conquered, the political aim motivating the warfare is not final, for subduing the other's will takes a lot of time.  

Therefore, political will-to-power is about people acting on people in its most basic manifestation. And so, at this infant phase of the conflict, we have an undefined group of people, known just as Russian separatists, without a territory or state to their name, acting on the will of the Ukrainian people. At the moment, Russia seeks a hero among the Russian seperatists, one who has a strong will-to-power, a strong striving for power, for whom the conflict itself is just a backdrop to the expression of his/her will. Perhaps we may thus expect a true celebrity figure, a hero/heroine, to emerge at this stage of the conflict. The conflict has not yet moved to a stage where Russia, a named territory, will directly act on Ukraine, for what is at stake at the moment is a political will-to-power rather than economic and other gains. Ukraine will have to be won over in the political sphere before economic agendas and issues are discussed. Ukraine will have to be won over through the passion and drive of the Russian separatists rather than through the military might of their weapons. It is only when a victorious will emerges that conflicts between neighboring countries which share similar histories can be said to be solved. The Ukraine-Russia conflict starts with a rivalry between two wills and it will end when one will asserts itself over another (it is not a war for the territory or the economy, and the westerners understand this). From a military perspective, this battle of the wills looks like a prolonged battle, because the military will not be used constantly and with great might, but it will be utilized only insofar as military might itself stands as an expression of a superior will.  

Economic sanctions on Russia will only go so far as to hit the elements of Russian economy without influencing the overall project in Ukraine. From the western perspective, what may be necessary to show is political power, power which is tyrannical, power which addresses the political sphere of Russian life more fully. It is also crucial that this power attach itself to the Ukrainian resistance, in order that this be a battle of wills rather than of military might. In fact, this 'battle of the wills' may already be in the tactical plans of this warfare. At the moment, the economic sanctions are only showing the Russians the current weakened state of the western will-to-power...and therefore the Russians may act more, wary of this weakened will, than be subdued. As a side note, at this point, the westerners seem to be ashamed of exhibiting their own power, but when western will-to-power is introduced amid the Russian will-to-power, war will become like a game, since both wills are out in the open and there is nothing to hide: there is an unashamed competition among the wills...As a game, the war will become more tactical than chaotic.