Russia wants its own sphere. America has other ideas

This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a non-woke collection of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. Sign up here.Today’s Agenda No sphere for you, Russi [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a non-woke collection of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [No sphere for you](, Russia. - We may be at [Peak Wokeism](. - A [gas-tax holiday]( isn’t the answer to inflation. - Neither is a [hard inflation target](. The Enemy of My Enemy [Great power politics]( can be boiled down to a simple idea: Powerful nations will try to dominate their region even as they cry foul when rivals do the same in their part of the world. If you’ve never heard of the Monroe Doctrine, now might be a good time to dust off that American history textbook from 11th grade. I’ll summarize it for you here: In 1823, after the U.S. was done kicking European powers out of its own territory, President James Monroe told them to get the heck out of the entire Western hemisphere too. Tragic U.S. meddling in Latin American politics in the past century has since given the term a bit of a bad connotation. Yet it still underpins much of U.S. policy in Latin America, from [sanctions]( against Venezuela and Cuba to U.S. [intervention]( when Iran tried to send a few [missile boats]( to Venezuela. How does that relate to the pressing issue of today, Russia’s [Ukraine demands](? Just because the U.S. wants Russia and China out of its own backyard, that [doesn’t mean it lets Russia and China]( lay down the law in their own neighborhoods, writes Hal Brands. That’s why it [won’t accede]( to Vladimir Putin’s demands to carve Russia’s own sphere of influence by closing NATO’s door to Ukraine. American planners worry Putin and other powerful rivals will use regional power bases as “springboards to global aggression.” Yet the price to hold Putin back will be high, now that Russia has boosted its military capability because it really, really wants its own sphere. One way to confront another power without dispatching your own military is by beefing up its neighbors’ militaries. That’s why the U.S. has sent arms to Ukraine and why it has pushed for Europe to unite against Russian aggression. The “peak fear” generated by Putin’s invasion threats has [given a temporary jolt to European cohesiveness](, writes Lionel Laurent. The problem is Europe tends to hit the snooze button when such fears pass, Lionel writes. For better or worse, those fears don’t seem to be [passing]( anytime soon. Bye Bye Wokeism Humans enjoy feeling like they’re part of a bigger group. That’s why we go to [extreme lengths]( to demonstrate fealty to a sports team, argue passionately over who has the [best bagels](, and tether ourselves (blindly, at times) to a political ideology. In San Francisco, the ultimate way to signal tribal allegiance is by proudly brandishing your woke credentials. So the fact that voters [decided to oust]( three woke members of the Board of Education comes as a bit of a shocker. Voters were upset the school board spent time trying to rename some schools rather than reopening them.  The decision was a sign the nation’s most woke city was tiring of … wokeism, argues Tyler Cowen. Perhaps it even means [wokeism has peaked](. And there’s a warning for the Democratic party: The fact that Asian-Americans were key to the recall suggests non-white families are less prone to wokeism. Don’t Step on the Gas (Tax) As inflation runs amuck, Americans are feeling the pinch, from the grocery store to the gas pump. So eliminating a tax added onto their gas bill should be fairly non-controversial, right? Wrong, argues Bloomberg’s editorial board: Suspending the federal gas tax, as some Democratic lawmakers are [calling for](, could [actually add to the demand for gas](, likely pushing up prices, thereby eliminating much of the consumer benefit. What’s worse, it would further erode the finances of the Highway Trust Fund, the primary way the U.S. pays for surface transportation. Central bankers might also be looking at inflation wrong. Many have been fixated on a 2% target as if it were God’s word. But what if [having a fixed policy target is wrong]( to begin with, asks Marcus Ashworth? Global forces outside the central bank’s control may make flexible average goals more realistic. And the Fed risks crushing the economy by aiming for an inflation rate set unrealistically low. Telltale Charts There is [no sign yet that China is pumping new liquidity]( into its economy, once you look through the usual data distortions caused by the Lunar New Year celebrations, writes John Authers. With central banks set to rein in inflation, more obvious [nominal investment losses will pile on top]( of less-visible real ones, writes Richard Cookson. Further Reading The [Fed is not the climate hero]( we need. —  Karl Smith Deciding how much [crypto should be in your portfolio]( is more faith than science. — Nir Kaissar Hedge funds keep learning the hard way to [stick to what they do best](. — Mark Gilbert Venmo and PayPal promise crypto convenience, but new fees [will hit small traders hard](. — Alexis Leondis Some [government reform ideas]( are just bad. — Jonathan Bernstein ICYMI Ford might [spin off its EV business](. Want to rent in New York City? Get [ready for a bidding war](. The new Ever Given is a [cargo ship loaded with luxury cars on fire](. Kickers There’s a [downside to living in a happy country](. (h/t Ellen Kominers) FINALLY, you can [bid on a used Michael Jordan cigar](. (h/t Mike Smedley) Gatorade bread? [Gatorade bread](. (h/t Jessica Karl) Area man [takes down town’s Internet]( in effort to get his kids offline. Notes:  There will be no newsletter on Monday. Please send Gatorade bread and complaints to David Wainer at dwainer3@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more](. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. 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