Economic War: Ukraine and the Global Conflict between Russia and the West

Winner of the US - Russia Relations Book Prize from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University Vladimir Putin´s first invasion of Ukraine, in 2014, set off a global economic clash, as the West used its clout with international markets to deter and penalise the Kremlin. The battlelines of this ´war by other means´ traversed a series of deep economic connections, built up during Russia´s oil, gas and commodities boom: global equity and capital markets, and transnational kleptocracy. Maximilian Hess´s startling book lifts the lid on Russia´s response to Western sanctions, and the ensuing skirmishes in London´s courts, on Swiss trading desks and in boardrooms in New Delhi. He explores how pipelines, mines, loans and crypto-markets were weaponised. This narrative sets the stage for Putin´s all-out assault on Kyiv in February 2022, which turned financial, food and fuel markets into bona fide battlefields, bringing the fight into everyone´s home, from Pennsylvania to Pakistan. Rather than a ´new Cold War´, we are witnessing a conflict over finance, energy and capital markets. How such economic warfare turns out will determine the future of liberalism and democracy; it will also set a precedent for economic relations between the West and China, as the two diverge into rival spheres of influence and power.