A man carries a tray of freshly baked bread outside a bread factory on Dec. 15, 2016, in Cairo. Chris McGrath/Getty Images Jessica Barnes, University of South Carolina Russia’s war on Ukraine is disrupting global grain supplies. Restrictions on navigation in the Azov Sea and the closure of ports have interrupted grain shipments from Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, …
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Ukraine war: fears that Belarus might invade on Russia’s side are growing
Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham and Anastasiya Bayok, University of Hamburg As the war in Ukraine drags on and Russia’s attempts to gain significant ground in Donbas stall, concerns are being raised once again about the possibility of Belarus opening a second front. This, so the logic goes, would require Ukraine to redeploy forces from the front lines in the …
Read More »Ukraine: Russian attitudes to Ukrainians can help to explain the atrocities
EPA-EFE/Anatoly Maltsev Kseniya Oksamytna, City, University of London Speaking to journalist Sophie Raworth on the BBC’s Sunday Morning show recently, former war crimes prosecutor Sir Howard Morrison, now an advisor to the Ukraine government, highlighted the dangers posed by the negative – often insulting and dehumanising – statements made by some Russian politicians and media personalities about Ukraine and its …
Read More »Ukraine: international pressure needs to be on Moscow, not Kyiv
Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham and Tatyana Malyarenko, National University Odesa Law Academy Having crossed the 100-day mark, the war in Ukraine is having an ever more obvious, and negative, impact on a wide range of issues. From a global food crisis that could last for years to serious problems with the cost of living and the prospect of a …
Read More »Russia’s rouble is now stronger than before the war – western sanctions are partly to blame
Kirill Shakhnov, University of Surrey In the days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and the west imposed sanctions, the rouble collapsed. The number of roubles to one US dollar quickly fell from about 78 to 138 – a huge move in the world of forex (foreign exchange), and terrifying for those with their wealth in the Russian currency. …
Read More »Ukraine recap: why Turkey wants to block Sweden and Finland joining Nato
Rachael Jolley, The Conversation Over the last week, further details emerged of Finland and Sweden’s intention to join Nato, until on Tuesday the nations formally submitted the paperwork. Nato’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg called it “a historic moment” and it certainly marks a momentous shift away from neutrality for those two countries. One implication of the Ukraine war is that …
Read More »Food prices: how countries are using the global crisis to gain geopolitical power
Sarah Schiffling, Liverpool John Moores University y Nikolaos Valantasis Kanellos, Technological University Dublin Twenty million tonnes of grain are currently stuck in Ukrainian silos, exacerbating the global food crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of the country. Aside from the need to get the grain onto world markets, freeing up storage space will be crucial to make room ahead of the …
Read More »Ukraine: British POWs sentenced to death after ‘show trial’ which appears to violate Geneva Conventions
Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner with Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, who were captured after the siege of the the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Image taken from footage of the Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, University of Bristol Two Britons captured while fighting in Ukraine’s armed forces have been sentenced to death after what has …
Read More »Ukraine war: the US and UK missile systems which will challenge Russia’s artillery dominance
Frank Ledwidge, University of Portsmouth The US and UK have agreed to send Ukraine several medium-range missile systems, despite continuing threats and warnings from Russia about the consequences of continued western support in general, and supply of these weapons in particular. Russia possesses similar weapons in abundance – and has used them extensively. So why are they so concerned about …
Read More »War sent America off the rails 19 years ago. Could another one bring it back?
In this March 2003 photo, Iraqi soldiers surrender to U.S. Marines following a gunfight. The war has loomed over geopolitical events for the past 19 years. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch, File) Jason Opal, McGill University At the start of 2022, the right to vote, the rule of law and even the existence of facts seemed to be in grave peril in …
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