THE WAR in Ukraine is more than just about Ukraine and Russia. It indirectly affects other regions and countries.
For starters, Ukrainian and Russian food, oil and mineral exports affect different countries. It is causing energy shortages in Europe, famines in the developing world and distress for financially troubled countries like Turkey.
For tech companies, it means loss of minerals crucial for the production of semiconductors. The semiconductor supply chain was already hurt by the coronavirus lockdowns. The effects of the war will only exacerbate that, further increasing the cost and availability of consumer tech items.
With regards to energy production, the war, through the sanctions, has harmed Europe’s power supply. Vladimir Putin has ordered that countries which have put sanctions on Russia will have to buy their oil and gas by paying in Rubles. And since Europe buys most of Russia’s energy supplies, they will need to either walk back their own sanctions, or end up with no power.
Finally, there is the geopolitical state of the world. India and Pakistan, long time antagonists, for example, have ignored Western sanctions on Russia. Other countries are considering the same things, either out of the need for Russian wheat and oil or simply resentment over American attempts at forcing them to toe the line with regards to sanctions.
The war in Ukraine is more than just about Russia, Ukraine and even NATO. It includes many other countries, and it reveals diplomatic fissures that have arisen in the post-globalist world.
I’ve written about this in previous articles, but it’s still worth repeating. By invading Ukraine, Russia has exacerbated the straining of the global network, already weakened by coronavirus.
Russia’s goal is to set up an alternative civilizational space for itself, but in doing so, it has revealed other fissures in the world./PN
