Before the first anniversary of the Russian war on Ukraine on February 24, the British Sunday Times highlighted 20 things that it said the world was affected by because of this war, starting with nuclear fears, passing through the exacerbation of famine in Africa, and ending with making many The flights are longer.
Here are the points highlighted by The Sunday Times:
1- Russia is weaker and its president as well
After a year of war, it seems that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trapped in a war that went wrong without a clear exit strategy in front of him, which also affected Russia.
2- The return of nuclear concerns
For the first time since the height of the Cold War in the early 1980s, there was troubling talk last year of the possibility of nuclear war, albeit with less intensity recently.
The war caused massive destruction in some Ukrainian (European) cities.
3- More light on Taiwan
The Ukraine war has highlighted concerns about China's designs on Taiwan, especially in the United States.
4- Inflation and industrial unrest in the United Kingdom
The war has pushed inflation in Britain and many other countries to a four-decade high, sending up the cost of almost everything sold in Britain and increasing the interest charged on mortgages.
5- More than 18 million Ukrainians have fled their homes
An estimated 18.6 million people have fled Ukraine since February 24, 2022, or just under a fifth of the population, the majority of whom fled in the immediate postwar period.
Thousands of Ukrainians had to flee their country because of the (European) war
6- Creating a new Russian diaspora
During the past year, it is believed that the number of Russians who left their country after its war on Ukraine was greater than those who left it in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, and most of them went to neighboring Georgia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Turkey.
7- Fears of worsening famine in Africa
Ukraine has long been the breadbasket of Europe, as it is a major exporter of grain;
In 2021, it is estimated that it provided food for about 400 million people around the world, and during the first five months of the war, it was unable to export grain through the main shipping routes, that is, through the Black Sea, which exacerbated famine in countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and others.
8- Isolation of the Russian economy
The rise in energy prices in the months after the war contributed to the financing of Putin's war machine, despite the decline in revenues due to the maximum price per barrel of $ 60 imposed by the European Union last December on Russian oil exports, and Russia also separated economically from the West, to end with that 3 Decades of economic integration that followed the collapse of communism.
9- Ambiguity about what is happening inside the largest country in the world
Russia, which former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill described as "an enigma, wrapped in an enigma, within an enigma", has become even more withdrawn after several Western correspondents had to leave for neighboring countries.
10- People are becoming more concerned about the environment
On the bright side of this war, rising energy prices have provided an even greater incentive to install solar panels and heat pumps.
11- The war strengthened the cohesion of NATO
Only a few years ago, some were wondering about the usefulness of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but that has changed now, as the war provided the alliance, which was founded in 1949, with the sense of purpose that this alliance lacked after the end of the Cold War.
12- The war gave the world a glimpse of what future wars will be like
Military strategists are intensifying their study of this war, which included 2,000 of Elon Musk's Starlink satellites and the old trench warfare. Michael Clarke, visiting professor at the Department of War Studies at King's College London, argues that this war offers a taste of the kind of conflict we must be prepared to fight. In the future.
There are no signs of an imminent ceasefire between the two parties (Reuters)
13- Demonstrated the importance of charismatic leadership
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has become one of the world's leading figures, often seen wearing a khaki shirt, and has played a major role in boosting the morale of his army and persuading foreign countries to help his country.
14- It ended the military ban in Germany
The war revealed the embarrassing extent to which Germany's growth has been boosted in recent years as a result of cheap Russian oil and gas, making the country dangerously dependent on Moscow, but it is only days after the war on Ukraine that German Chancellor Olaf Schultz announced major reforms to his country's defense and energy policy One of the most important of which was his decision to allocate 100 billion euros for the development of the German army.
15- It brought a boom to arms manufacturers
Germany was not the only country that decided to rearm itself, but there are countries far from the conflict such as Japan and South Korea are also working to increase defense spending.
16- It strengthened the Ukrainian identity
For anyone unfamiliar with this part of the world, it was not easy to distinguish Ukraine and Russia roughly before the war, and today woe to anyone who confuses the two.
Within Ukraine, the war has sharply boosted national pride and forced millions of Ukrainians with familial or cultural ties to Russia to reevaluate their perception of their giant neighbour.
17- It led to the severing of sports, scientific and artistic relations
Russia, which hosted the 2018 World Cup, was expelled from the Qatar qualifiers, and there are demands for its expulsion from the Olympic Games to be held in Paris next year.
18- I threatened a cold war in the Arctic
A major blow has been dealt to relations between Russia and its Arctic neighbors, which has ended 3 decades of cooperation that began in 1996 with the creation of the 8-member Arctic Council.
19- It made flights longer
British and European airlines traveling to and from Asia have had to take costly detours because they are not allowed to fly through Russian airspace. “The additional costs of burning fuel are enormous, and passengers have paid higher prices for it,” says flight expert Mike Arnault. .
20- She gave Chelsea FC a new owner
After 19 years of Roman Abramovich's ownership of the team, Chelsea Football Club was bought last May for 4.25 billion pounds sterling by a consortium headed by billionaire American businessman and investor Todd Bohle.