AzVision English had an interview with Irina Tsukerman, a US-based human rights lawyer and national security analyst about the current global situation. 

- When and how did the global inflation start? 

Global inflation precedes the current events and started as a result of the pandemic, lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, and overall poor economic management of the situation. For instance, in the United States, the public health crisis was exacerbated by overspending on project that were nearly impossible to implement due to the lockdowns and which made the economic situation more difficult. However, the prospects of food shortage due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, two of the world's top producers of wheat, seed oils, and other products, coupled with shortfalls in production in Latin America and other countries due to lack of rainfalls, exacerbated the situation. Another additional issue is the ongoing energy crisis in Europe due to a combination of poor internal policies, and gas producing countries such as Russia, manipulating the markets.

- How can the current war deepen this situation?

The war has led to the biggest refugee crisis in the world, loss of many jobs, destruction of infrastructure, staple food/grains shortages affecting in particular developing countries, and disruption of various other markets both locally, regionally, and internationally. In combination with the energy crisis, this has led to collapse of currencies and rise in prices.

- Which measures are being taken under the present state? 

- Europe is working to resolve the energy crisis by switching to nuclear energy, creating alternative solutions such as joint gas projects, requesting additional supplies from the US, Qatar, and other countries, and looking for other ways to ensure stable supply of energy. Multiple Middle East countries have given significant financial investments and bought stakes in key industries in countries such as Egypt as the cash flow is needed to account for rising food prices and the severe shortage of basic grains necessary in those countries for survival. Egypt had prepared for the shortage with five months worth of grain supply, but this may not be sufficient if the war continues. Other countries, however, are really struggling. With the end of the pandemic, economies are opening up and so are the opportunities for the economic growth but adjustment to the key industries and currency instability will take time to adjust to.

-  Which steps can be taken to prevent price increase?

The best thing to do for governments is to actually curtail their interference in the private market and allow the private sector to develop effective solutions for food shortages. In terms of energy prices, the US has recently released its gas reserves but it's a short term solution. In the long term, US needs to step in and open up its pipeline and increase its energy production, releasing it to international markets immediately. If the US is willing to reconsider its overall geopolitical strategy and take the security concerns of its Gulf allies more seriously, KSA and UAE may be more amenable to increase production helping divest from Russian energies. Multiple state actors are already looking for creative solutions to cooperate on increase in wheat and corn production to compensate for the losses from Russia and Ukraine but the best thing to do quickly is to bring the conflict to a close as soon as possible and help resume normal agricultural activity. However, this event will hopefully stimulate other producers to expand their capabilities and to share technologies that will help societies relying on certain products that are hard to grow in their own area to facilitate their own good independence. In general destabilization that affects global industries will force prices to rise; therefore working on viable solutions to ensure stable supply chains for the future whether during pandemics, environmental issues, or conflicts will stabiliize the prices as well.

AzVision.az

More about: