The Impact of the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the world
by Sebastian Ribon, Sophomore, iPreparatory Academy
by Sebastian Ribon, Sophomore, iPreparatory Academy
The History of the Conflict:
According to a retrospective report from Paul Kirby, a journalist for the BBC, the Ukraine-Russia conflict has its beginnings in 2014 with the Russian intervention in the province of Crimea for their respective annexation. Since then, there has been constant conflict between pro-Russian and anti-Russian civilians for the control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
As stated by Eliza Mackintosh and Rob Picheta in their article for CNN, the escalation in a years-long conflict between the nations has now triggered the greatest security crisis in Europe since the Cold War. The question on people’s minds is: Could the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine affect us in the States?
According to a retrospective report from Paul Kirby, a journalist for the BBC, the Ukraine-Russia conflict has its beginnings in 2014 with the Russian intervention in the province of Crimea for their respective annexation. Since then, there has been constant conflict between pro-Russian and anti-Russian civilians for the control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
As stated by Eliza Mackintosh and Rob Picheta in their article for CNN, the escalation in a years-long conflict between the nations has now triggered the greatest security crisis in Europe since the Cold War. The question on people’s minds is: Could the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine affect us in the States?
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Economic Crisis:
Julie Steinberg and William Mauldin from the Wall Street Journal mention in their article “Moscow’s Stock Market to Remain Frozen for Third Week, ” that although the Russian stock markets have been closed since February 25, shares of companies listed in international markets have “plunged.” This provides a small sample of how the Russian stock market is going to be affected after the sanctions imposed by a variety of countries. The war in Ukraine is a catastrophe and will have a huge impact on the world’s economy. David Malpass, president of the World Bank Group, states in an interview with the BBC that “the war in Ukraine comes at a bad time since inflation was already rising.” He also mentions that “food prices are already going up and poor countries are going to be the first ones to suffer the consequences” (Josephs). To some, this scenario could be similar to the one experienced 2 years ago, when the arrival of covid brought economic damage to the entire world. |
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As a consequence, thousands of people are fleeing Ukraine every day and taking refuge in nearby countries. According to the UN Security Council, this could be one of the largest mass immigration in modern history, with 4 million expected refugees (Epstein). As reported by the UN Refugee Agency, over 3.8 million people have left Ukraine, with 2,3 refugees in Poland, over 600.000 in Romania, and over 380.000 in Moldova.
How This Affects the United States
The consequences of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia are being perceived in the United States. To begin with, gas prices have increased rapidly in the last few weeks. According to Patrick de Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, the price of a regular gallon could continue to rise and average $4.50 in the United States, as long as the war in Ukraine continues (Avery).
According to the Observatory for Economic Complexity, Russia and Ukraine produce 25% of the global wheat supply. This could mean a considerable increase in the prices of wheat-based products. As stated in a Fox Business article by Andrew Kelper, the bakery industry could be highly affected since wheat is the most used ingredient and natural gas is very common in large-scale productions.
Unfortunately, the aftermath of the war will be much worse the longer it lasts.
The consequences of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia are being perceived in the United States. To begin with, gas prices have increased rapidly in the last few weeks. According to Patrick de Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, the price of a regular gallon could continue to rise and average $4.50 in the United States, as long as the war in Ukraine continues (Avery).
According to the Observatory for Economic Complexity, Russia and Ukraine produce 25% of the global wheat supply. This could mean a considerable increase in the prices of wheat-based products. As stated in a Fox Business article by Andrew Kelper, the bakery industry could be highly affected since wheat is the most used ingredient and natural gas is very common in large-scale productions.
Unfortunately, the aftermath of the war will be much worse the longer it lasts.
