• The US and its allies coordinated sanctions against Russia for its aggression against Ukraine in the 2014 Crimean Annexation and the 2022 invasion. Although the coalition represents 70% of global GDP, some emerging markets did not participate directly.
• The sanctions on Russia are to constrain Russia's warfighting ability by restricting trade and severing Russia from the global financial network. The US falls short of its sanctions goal as Russia's economy still hangs on a thread but has not collapsed.
• Due to the risk of economic disruption on energy-importing allies, the sanctions regime included controlled sales of Russian energy to maintain alliance cohesion, which blunts US-led sanctions' efficacy.

Lesson 2: Economic warfare must have both offensive and defensive elements

• Most policies in economic warfare are offensive. However, Ukraine also lost its productive capability in the war. Therefore, the US must also provide "defensive" investments to Ukraine to strengthen its infrastructure resilience, cyber defense, food security, and other security aspects.
• Ukraine also requires a long-term post-war rebuilding program akin to the Marshall Plan.

Lesson 3: Coordination with the private sector

• Economic warfare will involve private actors during the implementation stage. Therefore, extensive coordination between the government and industries is necessary.
• Many multinational companies withdrew their capital and operations from Russia, impeding Russia's ability to extract resources effectively.
• Close cooperation between private sectors and the Ukrainian security agency contributed to Ukraine's successful cyber defense. However, the US and its allies did not have clear guidance on funding Ukraine's digital conflict.