Interrogating Russo-Ukrainian War’ Implications for Human Security and Global Economy

Abstract

The recent attack on Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022 constitutes one of the biggest threats to both humanity and global economic growth in recent time since the end of the Cold War. The already stormy environment of global inflationary pressures amidst of rising cost of food and energy prices, disrupted financial market and supply chains following the coronavirus pandemic, climate change issues, the war have aggravated the supply and demand tensions, damaging purchaser comportment and threatening global economic growth and development. Recent projections by UNCTAD estimate that the world economy will be a full percentage point of GDP growth lower than expected owing to the war. It is on this framework the paper seek to interrogate the Russian-Ukraine war and its implications on humanity and global economy. It revealed that one of the major reasons Russia going into war with Ukraine is to protect its border and to maintain its regional influence in the east of Europe. Therefore, it is important to appreciate and recognize how the invasion affected humanity and global economic activities and the implication for the future. Political leaders should put in effort to discourage war like the Ukraine-Russia war, and should learn how to use negotiation as a conflict resolution tool. Most importantly, engage civil society and international community on discussions on the negative effects of war and the hard realities of what war can do to either countries’ now or future. This will serve a better option rather than hard economic policies on either side. It has shown that sanctions against a warring country is not an optimal solution because it has spillover effects into other countries who are not part of the war, especially when the warring countries are trade partners of other countries who are not involved in the war.