Nicholas Mulder is an assistant professor at Cornell University, where he studies twentieth century European and international history. In January, he published The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War, which traces the emergence of sanctions as a potent instrument during the interwar period. In this lightly edited Q&A, we discussed the use of sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and what the future implications are for China.Mulder was interviewed last week by The New York Times. See here. Nicholas Mulder.Illustration by Lauren Crow Q: What have we learned so far about sanctions as a tool of war from Ukraine? A: We are witnessing a quite striking and important moment where we have learned that it is possible to impose sanctions of a magnitude much bigger than what people had previously held possible — both in western capitals, but also in Russia itself, and potentially in China, too. The speed and the scope, and skill and int