Russian invasion of Ukraine began on the morning of February 24th. The invasion has caused displacement and much violence has been placed upon Ukranians resultin g in immense casualties.
The start of the conflict in Ukraine was summarized by Associate Professor of History David Fisher.
“Since Putin came into power around 2000, he has wanted to recreate the Russian empire of old and bring back Russian influence over those different pieces that are populated by people that aren’t Russian, and Ukraine has been one of those places that he’s been particularly interested in. He’s tried politically to undermine Ukranians desire to be a democratic non-corrupt free market with ties to europe… He started the war in Ukraine because political manipulation and sabotage didn’t work so he launched an invasion under false pretenses.”
The effects of the war in Ukraine are primarily directly affecting Ukraine, but Economist Xi Mao explains the effects of this war outside of Ukraine.
“I think the whole world is being affected. The world is linked. It’s not [a] closed economy. Every country is exporters and importers. These kind of wars will terminate some international business…The war could be the last straw. It can make the economy slow down much more than we expected.”
Mao continues.
“We learned that BP, Shell, Exon, terminated their businesses in Russia recently, and our uprise increased, and as we can see it was doubled in like 3 weeks. And this could directly affect consumers’ daily lives. That really hurts the economy, and we could lose a billion dollars by the oil increases. There’s a chance it could trigger the next recession somehow.”
Political science professor Nicholas Kiersey answers the “million dollar question” about the potential for the U.S. and Russia to collide and for a World War to break out.
“U.S. Boots on the ground are not a serious option at this stage. They’re not seeing the Ukraine conflict presently as a ascenting America’s vital national security interests to a point where America would actually have to intervene.“
This is Felix Balderas with vaquero radio.
