Putin’s Economic Nationalism on a Global Scale

President Vladimir Putin is promoting a form of economic nationalism on a global scale, urging blocs like the SCO and BRICS to prioritize their collective self-interest and build a system that serves their development goals. His critique of Western sanctions is a call for economic self-defense.
He argues that the current globalized system is rigged, with “discriminatory sanctions” used by the US and EU to “hinder” the rise of competitors. This narrative taps into a deep well of grievance among many developing nations who feel the rules are written to benefit established powers.
Putin’s solution is a turn towards bloc-level self-sufficiency. The Russia-China partnership is the template: trading in national currencies to achieve monetary independence, focusing on internal trade to spur growth, and investing in infrastructure to connect their markets more deeply.
At the SCO summit, he will be preaching this gospel of collective economic nationalism. He is calling for the member states to look inward, to each other, for their economic future, effectively building a parallel global economy that is less dependent on and vulnerable to the West.