This is, in fact, a war between two superpowers … of agriculture. The world’s number one exporter of wheat has invaded the world’s number five exporter of the grain – together Russia and Ukraine provide about 30% of wheat in global markets. Ukraine has now banned exports entirely as a wartime security measure, and financial sanctions on Russia are making global buyers wary of purchasing Russian bushels at all.
The sunflower side of it. That yellow band on the Ukrainian flag is meant to depict the country’s vast golden fields of sunflowers. Ukraine is the single largest exporter of sunflower oil, accounting for more than 40% of the global supply. Russia isn’t far behind at about a quarter of the market. Sunflower oil is a crucial cooking oil for households in many developing countries (and it’s also the source of the crisp in potato chips.) The war has already halted activity at Ukraine’s sunflower crushing plants, causing a knock-on surge in demand for substitutes like palm oil, which is now also seeing soaring prices. (Gzero Signal, 3/16/2022)
“When Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, he dreamed of restoring the glory of the Russian empire. He has ended up restoring the terror of Josef Stalin.” (The Economist, 3/12/2022)
“Today Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is unleashing the biggest commodity shock since 1973, and one of the worst disruptions to wheat supplies since the first world war. Although commodity exchanges are already in chaos, ordinary folk are yet to feel the full effects of rising petrol bills, empty stomachs and political instability. But make no mistake, those things are coming. – and dramatically so, if sanctions on Russia tighten further, and if Vladimir Putin retaliates. Western governments need to respond to the commodity threat. as determinedly as to Mr. Putin’s aggression.” (The Economist, 3/12/2022)
The global food system could be tipped into “disaster” as a result of the war in Ukraine, experts have warned, leaving millions facing severe hunger.
The Covid-19 pandemic had already pushed up the cost of food prices before Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. But the “additional strain of war” could be catastrophic for global food supplies as it threatens “supplies of key staple crops”, said The Guardian.
“We were already having problems with food prices,” Maximo Torero, chief economist at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, told the paper. “What countries are doing now is exacerbating that, and the war is putting us in a situation where we could easily fall into a food crisis.”
UN Secretary General António Guterres also warned that the crisis in Ukraine, a country often described as “the breadbasket of the world,” would impact food supplies, saying there is a “sword of Damocles” hanging over the global economy, especially in the developing world. (The Week, 3/21/2022)
CHINA CLOSER TO DOMINATING SE ASIA
“[T]his presents a security risk to all countries in southeast Asia… where China has now built itself the capacity to control the skies and control the sea lanes through that region very effectively… It reflects the overall growth of the Chinese military… control of the South China Sea would be a major step for the PRC in prosecuting a military campaign against Taiwan. It certainly makes it much harder for the United States for example to get its military forces closer to Taiwan… it really becomes a mechanism to control all of southeast Asia, this is a region of ten countries, 650 million people… if you are the military dominant power in the South China Sea you dominate south east Asia. That at least was the strategic thinking of the Japanese in the Second World War and I think it is the strategic thinking of China right now.” — Peter Jennings, Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, interview with ABC Radio Australia, March 22/2022)
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TO THE POINT
- Vladimir Putin’s press secretary has refused to deny that Russia could resort to using nuclear weapons. Speaking to CNN, Dmitry Peskov was asked under what conditions Putin would use Russia’s nuclear capability. He replied: “If it is an existential threat for our country, then it can be.” The Pentagon denounced the statement as reckless, saying “it’s not the way a responsible nuclear power should act” – but also said its officials “haven’t seen anything that would lead us to conclude that we need to change our strategic deterrent posture.” (The Week, 3/23/2022)
- Official forecasts have shown that Britain is facing the biggest fall in living standards since records began in 1956. The Office for Budget Responsibility said they would fall by 2.2% in the next tax year, the largest reduction in a year and twice the size of the falls during the oil shocks of the 1970s and 1980s. It also predicted that household energy bills will surge to about £2,800 a year from October, when the price cap on standard tariffs is expected to rise by a record £830. (The Week, 3/24/2022)
- Prince William has spoken of his “profound sorrow” about slavery during a speech at a dinner in Jamaica. The Duke of Cambridge said slavery “should never have happened” and “forever stains our history.” His words followed protests in Jamaica, and an open letter written by 100 prominent citizens, calling for William to apologise for the royal family’s role in the slave trade. “Some will be disappointed” that the Prince did not give a formal apology, said the BBC. (The Week, 3/24/2022)
- Editor of Saudi Daily: ‘Biden Is Becoming A Master At Losing Friends And Alienating Allies’; Everyone Harmed By The Current Oil Crisis Should Realize Biden’s Foreign Policy Is Responsible For Their Plight (MEMRI, 3/24/2022)
- As NATO leaders arrive in Brussels for today’s NATO summit, there’s a big question: which side is Turkey on? Its president, Recep Erdogan, regards himself as a Putin ally but that hasn’t stopped his son-in-law selling drones to Ukraine. Joe Biden wants Turkey to fully side with the West. The power map of Europe is being redrawn, says Owen Matthews in his cover article – but Turkey is positioning itself as the powerbroker. (The Spectator, 3/24/2022)
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PRINCE WILLIAM AND SLAVERY
It wasn’t his first official visit to Commonwealth countries but it was certainly the most difficult for Prince William and his wife, Kate. Quite a baptism of fire, in fact.
The second in line to the throne and his wife were sent on a visit to commemorate the queen’s Platinum Jubilee. They were visiting Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas, all Commonwealth Realms, meaning the Queen is Head of State of each country.
The threat of a demonstration against slavery forced a change to the itinerary in Belize; while in Jamaica, the Prime Minister of the country chose to give them a public dressing down, an almost unheard of diplomatic insult.
There’s just one problem, those intent on disrupting the royal tour are 250 years too late.
It’s exactly 250 years since the famous Somerset decision made it a crime to keep anybody as a slave in the United Kingdom. That was a first for the UK. 35 years later the UK became the first European country to abolish the slave trade. A quarter of a century further on and slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire. From 1810 until 1861 the Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron stopped ships of all nationalities and freed 250,000 slaves. Britain’s progressive credentials cannot be beaten by any other nation.
Note the following letter from the Washington Post:
The July 4 editorial “What ‘America First’ should really mean” portrayed the United States as “a nation that long ago set itself against tyranny.” But this ignored the elephant in the room: The American Revolution was motivated in part to preserve slavery.
In 1772, four years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the English court decision Somerset v. Stewart was generally interpreted to mean that slavery had no legal basis in England. In contrast, the laws of the southern American colonies defined slaves not as people but as property. The contrast between these laws and the public’s view of the Somerset decision could not be starker. The southern colonies feared that Somerset would eventually apply to them and abolish their way of life. In their view, the only way to preserve slavery was to become independent of Britain. Their support for independence was essential to the Revolution’s success.
The moral impact of Somerset eventually led Britain to abolish slavery in nearly all of its colonies. It did that in 1833, 32 years before slavery was abolished in the United States by the 13th Amendment. Had Britain succeeded in suppressing the Revolution, slaves in the United States might have been freed a lot sooner. John L Hodge, Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Certainly, in the 16th and 17th centuries Britain profited from slavery, but so did every other nation. And it wasn’t just European nations that benefitted. Europeans simply cashed in on an already thriving African slave trade. John Kufour, President of Ghana, reminded Ghanaians of their role in the slave trade on the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trade by the British government. The expression “sold down the river” emanates from this time, when African chiefs would sell captives of other tribes, “sold down the river” to meet the slavers taking them to the New World.
Additionally, we should mention that at least one million white people were held as slaves mostly by Arabs in the Middle East. The book “White Gold” tells their story. The book is by Giles Milton and was published in 2004. (He puts the figure at between one million and 1.25 million.)
Perhaps Caribbean leaders could read up more on their own history before they embarrass more royals on future visits!
Remember: “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32). By denying these facts the Caribbean could be in danger of replacing the Brits with another nation, which would be far worse, maybe China?
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