The Fourth Horseman Approacheth: Putin’s Invasion Sparks Food Shortage in the Middle East
Russian President Vladamir Putin’s recent invasion of Ukraine has indelibly assaulted the countries’ people, land, and way of life .€100 billion in infrastructure has been demolished. Schools and children’s hospitals have been bombed. Humanitarian aid has been blocked repeatedly. An estimated 5 million people have fled the country, roughly 2 million of whom are considered internationally displaced. As of March 20, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office, Putin’s army has killed 902 people and injured 1,459 others. However, the actual number of those dead and wounded is anticipated to be much higher, as great as 20,000, according to the Mayor of Mariupol. While the horror that Putin has instilled in Ukraine’s citizens cannot be understated, this month and a half-old war are already proving to have disastrous consequences on the rest of the world – notably, in limiting food supplies to the Middle East.
In an effort to punish Putin and incentivize him to withdraw Russian troops out of Ukraine, thirty countries, including Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States, have placed tariffs on Russia. According to a fact sheet released by the White House, all thirty countries imposing sanctions are trying to freeze the assets of those closest to Putin. Their end goal is to suffocate the endorsement of Russia's national currency, the Rouble, by targeting Russian oil refinery businesses, military exports, and the Russian Central bank. The EU has also closed its air spaces to all Russian aircraft, banned imports of Russian tobacco and timber, and shut down Russia Today (the Russian State-owned television network). The United States has chiefly attacked Russia’s oil refinery by discontinuing any trade with modern oil technology. Additionally, the US has also excluded certain Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system, a program that allows banks to communicate about transfers and transactions privately.
Both the war itself and the recent sanctions have produced a long, familiar domino effect resulting in an increase in the price of food on a global level. The invasion has closed Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea and chased several farmers off their land, leaving nobody to attend to several thousands of acres worth of crops. They very well may not return in time for the harvest in June. What’s more, to avoid total economic collapse, Ukraine has banned all exports of certain food products, including wheat, buckwheat, and millets.
Russia and Ukraine are responsible for a third of all grain exports worldwide. Both countries produce 52% of the world’s sunflower oil, 19% of its barley, 14% of its wheat, and 4% of its corn. Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Pakistan, and a handful of other countries in the Middle Eastern North African region are estimated to purchase 60% of the wheat products produced by either Russia or Ukraine. The United States, on the other hand, responsible for a large number of these sanctions, has the good fortune of being able to rely on its own, domestic food supply.
A lack of food is sadly not a new issue for the Middle East, nor is economic turmoil. Still, the recent increase in food prices has essentially poured salt upon an open wound all over the region. Lebanon’s supermarkets are now continually out of corn and flour. The price of cooking oil in Syria has doubled, while in Lebanon, a single gallon of cooking oil currently costs about the same as Lebanon’s national monthly minimum wage, which is about $29 USD. In Egypt, where 103 million people live below the poverty line, the price of bread has increased by 50%. As if this statistic weren't staggering in and of itself, Egypt was already facing a severe inflation issue, which further bends the price of food out of reach of even more people than before.
The effects of the sanctions have additional repercussions on the Middle East besides a food shortage. Iraq and Sudan have both erupted into protests in recent weeks. There is now a shortage of gas, medicine, and electricity in Lebanon. One Lebanese family interviewed by the Associated Press uses a generator because the state has not provided them with any electricity. 14.6 million people across the Middle East have become dependent on foreign economic aid, but since the invasion, those funds have been reallocated to support the Ukrainians. Yemen is currently in the middle of a civil war, and is in danger of experiencing one of the most severe food shortage cases in the world. According to the UN, as many as 19 million people are expected to face famine-like conditions by the end of this year.
It is essential to consider the ripple effects Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has wreaked upon the rest of the world. The tragedy suffered by Ukraine cannot be overlooked, but neither can the ones afflicted in the Middle East. Putin’s invasion during a worldwide pandemic has not only killed hundreds, perhaps thousands of people, but it has also called upon the last Horseman of the Apocalypse with the arrival of an international food shortage. With this frightening allegory in mind, the harm that Putin has inflicted upon all people must be taken note beyond just those affected in Ukraine.
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