Reuters (December 23)
In 2024, “the global trade war will shift from fossil fuels to metals and raw materials. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlighted the risk of relying on autocratic states for energy. Even if Europe’s gas crisis eases, Western manufacturers’ focus will switch to reducing China’s dominance in materials key to a cleaner economy.”
Tags: 2024, Autocratic, China, Cleaner, Dominance, Energy, Europe, Fossil fuels, Gas crisis, Global, Invasion, Materials, Metals, Raw materials, Relying, Risk, Russia, Shift, Trade war, Ukraine
New York Times (November 1)
“After shocks from the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there’s little cushion if the fighting between Hamas and Israel becomes a regional conflict.” An escalation would cloud “the global economy’s outlook, threatening to dampen growth and reignite a rise in energy and food prices.” An escalation would also mark the first time the world has dealt with two simultaneous energy shocks.
Tags: Energy, Escalation, Fighting, Food, Global economy, Hamas, Invasion, Israel, Outlook, Pandemic, Regional conflict, Russia, Shocks, Ukraine
Wall Street Journal (September 6)
Vladimir Putin’s meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un “underscores the global nature of the threat to U.S. interests.” Indeed, the Japanese Prime Minister’s visit to Kyiv this spring was partly “because America’s allies in Asia understand that Ukraine isn’t a distant squabble. Russia has its own Pacific ambitions, including militarizing the Kuril Islands, some of which Japan also claims. A Russia that prevails in Ukraine will provoke elsewhere. Mr. Putin is also the junior partner to the neighborhood’s No. 1 threat: The Chinese Communist Party.”
Tags: Allies, Asia, CCP, Global nature, Japan, Kim, Kuril Islands, Kyiv, North Korea, Pacific ambitions, Prime minister, Provoke, Putin, Russia, Threat, U.S. interests, Ukraine
The Guardian (August 10)
“China’s attempt to hold together conflicting interests on the war in Ukraine – maintaining its ‘no limits’ partnership with Russia, without damaging its relationship with western nations and its tarnished global brand too greatly – has proved awkward.” Beijing’s gestures “should not be mistaken for a substantive shift in position. But they should not be ignored either.”
Tags: Awkward, China, Conflicting interests, Damaging, Gestures, Global brand, Partnership, Russia, Tarnished, Ukraine, War, Western nations
Investing.com (July 2)
“Oil prices settled down 1% on Monday as worries about a slowing global economy and possible U.S. interest-rate hikes outweighed supply cuts announced for August by top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia.”
Tags: August, Down, Exporters, Global economy, Interest rate hikes, Oil prices, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Supply cuts, U.S., Worries. Slowing
Financial Times (April 28)
“Deprived of investment opportunities abroad, Russians have piled their savings into the likes of Lukoil, Gazprom and Sberbank, which combined account for about 40 per cent of the stock market’s total value.” Marking a rebound, “Russia’s stock market has climbed to its highest level in more than a year as domestic retail investors with nowhere else to go snap up the dividend-paying stocks that sold off heavily following the invasion of Ukraine”.
Tags: Abroad, Deprived, Dividend, Domestic, Gazprom, Invasion, Investment, Lukoil, Opportunities, Rebound, Retail investors, Russia, Savings, Sberbank, Stock market, Stocks, Ukraine
Fortune (April 24)
“National governments are spending a record amount of money on defense and arms, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a more complicated geopoltical environment push countries to buy more military equipment.” All told, defense spending grew by 3.7% in 2002. Roughly “half of that increase was due to a 640% surge in military spending by Ukraine, as the country quickly expanded its armed forces to defend against the invasion.”
Tags: Arms, Complicated, Defense, Environment, Geopoltical, Governments, Military equipment, Record, Russia, Spending, Ukraine
Washington Post (April 4)
“Finland has spent the 105 years since its independence tiptoeing alongside Russia, with which it has roughly 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) of border.” The cornerstone of Finnish foreign policy remained “maintaining good relations with Russia…. until last year,” when “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its demands to stop NATO expansion” shifted public opinion overwhelmingly in favor of NATO accession, which was achieved today.
Tags: Accession, Cornerstone, Demands, Finland, Foreign policy, Independence, Invasion, NATO expansion, Public opinion, Russia, Ukraine
Equities News (March 28)
“The petrodollar was born” in 1975. When OPEC members exclusively adopted the dollar for pricing, it “had the immediate effect of strengthening the U.S. dollar,” with the greenback becoming “the world’s reserve currency, a status formerly enjoyed by the British pound, French franc and Dutch guilder.” Today, however, “we may be witnessing the end of the petrodollar as more and more countries, including China and Russia, are agreeing to make settlements in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. This could have wide-ranging implications on not just a macro scale but also investment portfolios.”
Tags: 1975, China, Currencies, Franc, Greenback, Guilder, Implications, Macro scale, OPEC, Petrodollar, Pound, Reserve currency, Russia, Settlements, Strengthening, U.S.
The Economist (March 23)
“On Ukraine China has played an awkward hand ruthlessly and well. Its goals are subtle: to ensure Russia is subordinate but not so weak that Mr Putin’s regime implodes; to burnish its own credentials as a peacemaker in the eyes of the emerging world; and, with an eye on Taiwan, to undermine the perceived legitimacy of Western sanctions and military support as a tool of foreign policy.”
Tags: China, Legitimacy, Peacemaker, Perceived, Putin, Russia, Ruthlessly, Sanctions, Subordinate, Taiwan, Ukraine, Undermine