Sam Blyth is the founder of Blyth Academy & CEO of the Global Summers Academy.
As I write this in the Dominican Republic, thousands of Russian tourists are sunning themselves on local beaches, drinking tequila in the bars and partying to beat the band. Simultaneously, there are Russian rockets raining down on Kyiv, civilians dying in droves and a despot in the Kremlin with access to nuclear weapons, threatening any country that dares intervene while remaining oblivious to diplomatic entreaties and indifferent to all the announced international sanctions.
If history is a guide, Vladimir Putin will see a bump in his domestic popularity if the invasion of Ukraine succeeds, and most Russians will shrug if the economy eventually shrinks again. As with the 2014 Crimean annexation, Russians might believe there will be some short-term pain for long-term gain, and things will revert to near normal soon enough. But Mr. Putin once argued that North Koreans would sooner “eat grass” than end their nuclear program in the face of U.S. sanctions, and that thinking may well carry over to his approach to governing Russia.
Nevertheless, domestic opposition to the invasion remains one of the best hopes for taming Mr. Putin’s aggression. And while Russians have bravely taken to the streets in cities across the country, with hundreds already detained for doing so, more people there need to understand that their government’s terrible actions have painful consequences for them, and for how they are seen around the world. On this, the typical slate of economic sanctions do not appear to be doing the job.
There is, however, another set of sanctions that would bite, and could quickly help turn popular opinion against Mr. Putin: An indefinite ban of travellers from Russia by democratic nations. Such an action would leave Russians stuck at home during their interminable winters, unable to travel internationally for business or leisure and separated from their friends and family abroad. With COVID-19 lockdowns winding down and travel beginning to open up again, this measure would be particularly effective at this time.
Would it be cruel and unusual punishment to separate Russians from their diaspora? No more than what Ukrainians are facing whether they remain in Kyiv or are forced to flee. And Russian nationals can always return to their motherland safely if they get homesick. Not so, for Ukrainians.
Several countries and their hotels, restaurants and hospitality workers would take a hit from the Russian travel ban, including Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt and the Dominican Republic. These countries should be compensated for taking a disproportionate amount of the pain. But then, at the same time, their people would be spared the spectacle of Russians playing in Courchevel and St. Tropez, and the indignity of having to look after Russians as the French did Germans in the Parisian cafés of St. Germain during the Second World War.
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