Tag: Ukraine

Bi-Weekly Geopolitical Report – Parsing the World’s New Geopolitical Blocs (May 9, 2022)

Posted on by Rebekah Stovall

by Patrick Fearon-Hernandez, CFA | PDF

For more than a decade, we at Confluence have been tracking and writing about the waning commitment of the U.S. to its role as global hegemon.  We’ve shown how U.S. retrenchment and protectionism have helped erode globalization.  Factors like deregulation, falling transportation costs, improved technology, and easing geopolitical tensions following the end of the Cold War may have promoted political and economic integration for decades.  Now, however, governments across the globe are erecting barriers to trade, investment, and migration, leaving authoritarian strongmen emboldened to assert themselves.  The latest example of that has been Russian President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Amid these developments, we’ve argued the world will fracture into at least two main political and economic blocs: a U.S.-led bloc consisting mostly of liberal democracies and a China-led bloc of mostly authoritarian states.  This report discusses which nations are likely to join each bloc, which will merely lean toward one bloc or the other, and which may try to stay neutral.  Based on our predicted makeup of each bloc, we describe their differing political, economic, and financial characteristics.  As always, the analysis also includes ramifications for investors.

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Don’t miss the accompanying Geopolitical Podcast, now available on our website and most podcast platforms: Apple | Spotify | Google

Bi-Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Russians Respond (April 25, 2022)

Posted on by Rebekah Stovall

by Bill O’Grady | PDF

In mid-March, we wrote a report detailing the effects of financial sanctions on Russia.  And now, about six weeks later, we are seeing the response from Russia.  As we noted in our earlier report, Western sanctions on Russia were extensive.  Although something similar was deployed against Iran, never before had such sanctions been used against a major country.

The initial response from the financial markets was swift; the ruble (RUB) plunged.  However, over the past couple of weeks, the RUB/USD has recovered all of the initial losses.  It should be noted that some of the recovery is due to capital controls as Moscow has made it very difficult to move money out of Russia.  Exporters who acquire hard currency are required to turn 80% over to the Russian Central Bank.  The bank also lifted interest rates to 20%, yet recently reduced its policy rate to 17%.  But perhaps the most radical action the government has taken is to demand payment for energy in RUB.

In this report, we will begin with examining the concept of money and the complications that international trade creates, including a discussion of the reserve currency concept.  Using this construct, we will apply it to the specific case of Russia.  Our contention is that the dollar/Treasury reserve system is, at best, being tested, and at worst, unraveling.  We will also include comments about emerging reserve currency blocs and conclude with potential market ramifications.

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Don’t miss the accompanying Geopolitical Podcast, now available on our website and most podcast platforms: Apple | Spotify | Google

Bi-Weekly Geopolitical Report – The New Era of Higher Defense Budgets (March 28, 2022)

Posted on by Rebekah Stovall

by Patrick Fearon-Hernandez, CFA | PDF

The Russia-Ukraine war has transformed the world in the blink of an eye.  We think the war and its aftermath will reverse much of the economic globalization of recent decades and cleave the world into two or more blocs with only limited interplay.  We believe sanctions on Russia will discourage many central banks from seeing the U.S. dollar as their preferred reserve currency.  We see an isolated Russia being forced into an even tighter relationship with China, where it will be the junior partner.

Now that it’s easier to see the geopolitical and military threats from authoritarian leaders in China, Russia, and beyond, we believe the war has also ushered in a new era of high defense spending.  We expect that countries around the world will now invest much more in national defense than they have in decades.  This report examines the implications of higher defense spending within NATO and the potential ramifications for investors.

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Don’t miss the accompanying Geopolitical Podcast, available on our website and most podcast platforms: Apple | Spotify | Google

Bi-Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Ukraine War and the Path of Globalization (March 14, 2022)

Posted on by Rebekah Stovall

by Bill O’Grady | PDF

There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.

̶ Vladimir Lenin

Over the coming weeks, we will be analyzing the impact of the war in Ukraine.  Clearly, the situation is highly fluid[1] and projections on how the future will be affected by the war must be tempered with the fact that conditions will certainly change.

In this report, we will focus on the economic sanctions and their effects on globalization.  As the conflict has evolved, Western nations have moved quickly to implement serious sanctions on Russia that will likely have far-reaching effects not just on the Russian economy but also on global trade and investment.

Our report begins with the sanctions on the Russian Central Bank and the impact on its foreign reserves; the discussion includes an analysis of Russian policies designed to accumulate reserves.  From there, we project how reserve managers address the risk unveiled by the sanctions, including how nations view trade and development.  Using this information, we examine how this change will affect globalization and what impact these changes will have on the economy, inflation, and markets. A look at the role of cryptocurrencies is also included.  Finally, we close with potential market ramifications.

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Don’t miss the accompanying Geopolitical Podcast, available on our website and most podcast platforms: Apple | Spotify | Google

[1] For comments on how the war is unfolding, we recommend monitoring our Daily Comment.

Bi-Weekly Geopolitical Report – Ukraine: Key Questions (February 14, 2022)

Posted on by Rebekah Stovall

by Patrick Fearon-Hernandez, CFA, and Bill O’Grady | PDF

Don’t miss the accompanying Geopolitical Podcast, now available on our website and most podcast platforms: Apple | Spotify | Google

For the past two months, Russia has been mobilizing around Ukraine, leading to fears that Moscow is planning to invade.  The U.S. has warned Russia against such action, lining out extensive sanctions and other potential responses.

Given the fluid nature of the situation in Ukraine, it is difficult to create a report detailing current events.  After all, they are changing so rapidly that this element is best left to the media.  Instead, we want to give some context to the current situation formatted in a series of questions with responses from both of us, Bill and Patrick.  As always, we will close with market ramifications.

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