As U.S. policymakers develop their response to the Russian incursion into Ukraine, it seems quite likely that some form of sanctions will be employed. But sanctions are always harmful to innocents and never particularly effective. It’s worth considering, then, whether there are policy options that would have a positive impact on the geopolitical situation in Ukraine while directly improving human lives and increasing liberty. We could call them “anti-sanctions.”

One possibility would be to liberalize U.S. exports of natural gas. John Boehner and others in Congress have argued that doing so would reduce Russia’s influence in the region by providing countries like Ukraine a non-Russian source of energy. Even if the geopolitical benefits are slow to materialize, allowing more oil and gas exports would have tremendous economic benefits for the United States.

A much simpler anti-sanction response would be to drop U.S. tariffs on imports from Ukraine. Normally, many products from Ukraine would be allowed to enter the United States duty free under the Generalized System of Preferences. But that program, meant to aid development in poor countries, expired last summer. Renewing GSP would reduce Ukraine’s economic dependence on Russia while directly helping Ukrainians and the Americans they do (or would do) business with. 

Perhaps I am hopelessly naïve, but exploring avenues for peaceful interaction seems to me like a much friendlier and more constructive way to approach international problems. I suspect there are a great number of pro-liberty “anti-sanctions” that the U.S. government could employ as a response to the crisis in Ukraine that might actually make a positive difference in the lives of Ukrainian people.