Russian Refusal to Pay the Price for Membership in G-8

In his piece, It’s Long Been Clear That Russia Doesn’t Belong, Inboden responds to the question of whether or not Russia should be kicked our of the G-8 in the affirmative. Inboden argues that the hope with which G-8 membership was extended to Russia has since proven false, as Putin’s reign of repression has coincided with the nation’s regression into kleptocratic autocracy. Given that Russia has abandoned “any pretense of democracy,” its membership in a group founded on that principle should be revoked. Such a move, according to Inboden, would signal that the world’s industrialized democracies stand united against Russian aggression and in defense of Ukrainian sovereignty.