THE UKRAINE WAR IN THE DAWN OF A NEW GLOBAL MONETARY ORDER

Abstract

The Ukraine War does not just represent the large-scale reactivation of conventional military conflict in Europe. As a major confrontation between great powers whose span encompasses several overlapping arenas, it also involves another clash in the intensifying strategic competition to determine the future architecture of the global financial and monetary order and maybe even a potential watershed that can trigger its rearrangement. Under these conditions, currencies and monetary assets are being targeted, weaponized as vectors of power projection and also harnessed as asymmetric equalizers in the pursuit of victory. In this regard, in order to offer a clear situational awareness of the background, the present article explains the enduring symbiotic connection between money and power and its importance for the practice of statecraft in the domain of high politics. As a meaningful precedent, the following section contends that the Kremlin’s takeover of Crimea unleashed a clash in which both the so-called “collective West” under American leadership and the Russian Federation relied on monetary instruments for both offensive and defensive purposes. Next, the paper scrutinizes how monetary elements are playing a major role in the deepening mutual hostility between Western powers and Russia as a result of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Whereas the Western coalition has implemented various measures in an attempt to sink the monetary components of Russian national power, the Russians are approaching this challenge through counterintuitive strategies as a force multiplier to strengthen the rouble’s position and also as a catalyst that could trigger a chain reaction which accelerates de-dollarization on a global scale.