Winner of the US - Russia Relations Book Prize from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University Vladimir Putins 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 Russias oil, gas and commodities boom: global equity and capital markets, and transnational kleptocracy.
Maximilian Hesss startling book lifts the lid on Russias response to Western sanctions, and the ensuing skirmishes in Londons 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 Putins all-out assault on Kyiv in February 2022, which turned financial, food and fuel markets into bona fide battlefields, bringing the fight into everyones 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.