Russia’s war on Ukraine has destroyed huge swathes of the country and attacked the international order, but, as a new book by political risk analyst Maximilian Hess argues, it’s also a challenge to the US-led dollar system.
‘Economic War: Ukraine and the Global Conflict Between East and West’ tracks the recent relationship between Russia and the West. Hess explains how the growing tension after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 was permeated by economic sanctions, trade disputes and other financial concerns, and how it grew into an all-out “economic war” following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.
Hess argues that the Kremlin has bundled these discrete areas into a wider challenge against the Western economic order and, specifically, the US dollar. Once Russia is defeated, he says, there will be a chance to address some of the inequalities the dollar system has engendered – and that it’s inevitable Russia will have to be reincorporated into the international financial system. That is, if Russia respects its neighbouring states’ sovereignty.
