Apr 27, 2024
- Russia defeating Ukraine could spark chaos and slam the global economy, Jamie Dimon said.
- The JPMorgan CEO said a Putin victory could fuel a nuclear arms race and trigger more battles.
- Dimon warned US-China tensions and wars in Europe and the Middle East threaten the world order.
A Russian victory in Ukraine could throw the world into disarray, transform the global economy, and trigger nuclear proliferation and further conflicts, Jamie Dimon warned.
“It could be a potential disaster,” the JPMorgan CEO told The Wall Street Journal this week.
Dimon emphasized that Russia has invaded a free, democratic nation and threatened nuclear war to deter resistance.
“We’ve never had nuclear blackmail before, which is also teaching the whole world that maybe having nuclear weapons is a pretty good thing because people will be afraid of you — you can abuse a neighbor if you feel like it,” he said.
The boss of America’s biggest bank cautioned that if Russia conquers Ukraine, other countries may question whether they can rely on the US to defend them from military assaults, or to have their back on the “economic battlefield,” Dimon said.
Governments worldwide will reassess the security of their food, energy, and other critical resources, and might decide to partner with other countries, he added.
“I’m a little worried that if Russia wins that war, you’re going to see the world enter a little bit of chaos as people realign alliances and economic relationships.”
The billionaire banker has been sounding the alarm on the tumultuous global environment for a while.
“The geopolitical situation is probably the most complicated and dangerous since World War II,” he told the Economic Club of New York this week, adding that the world order is being “challenged.”
In his annual letter to JPMorgan shareholders this month, Dimon pointed to the wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East, the US and China clashing over issues like trade, and the recent spike in terrorist attacks as evidence that a historically “treacherous” era may have begun.
In a September interview, Dimon flagged the Russia-Ukraine war as the greatest threat to the world, and said countries were worrying about relying on other countries for everything from food and energy to microchips and rare-earth metals.
He added that the battle could be an “inflection point for the free democratic world,” and said there’s “no playbook” for navigating the current geopolitical melee.
This contains everything we already know, but let’s hope more people in power will take these warnings for real.
Just to drive the message home:
James Heappey said something similar in the DT yesterday. Extracts:
“A Ukraine defeat by Russia would cost the West trillions in a new Cold War, warned James Heappey, the former Armed Forces minister.”
“Writing for The House Magazine, Mr Heappey said that “more aid packages like the ones unveiled this week will be needed” for Ukraine to win the battle for “security across the whole European-Atlantic region”.
He added: “A stalemate or, heaven forbid, a Ukrainian defeat promises a new cold war that will last for decades and cost trillions of dollars more.”
Mr Heappey, a former soldier, resigned from his government position last month after calling for a higher share of GDP to be spent on defence amid concerns about the strength of the British military. Mr Sunak has since committed to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030.”
“Mr Heappey said the latest aid package would not “immediately tip the balance, allowing the Ukrainians to go on to a final offensive that brings a quick and complete victory”.
He added: “My expectation is that with this huge inflow of Western support, we’ll see the frontlines stabilise and, while the fighting will be fierce, I don’t expect to see significant amounts of territory traded this year.”
He said Ukrainian brigades need to be trained “in a complicated manoeuvre that synchronises their movement with artillery fire, air support and everything else that can be thrown at the Russians”.
He does not believe the Ukrainian defenders will be ready to defeat the Russians until 2025 or even 2026.”
IMO the cat is already out of the bag on nuclear proliferation. The globe has seen it used as a deterrent and as a cloak for vice. Those that are so able will create their own weapons, or be host for those that already have them.
Further many countries have already come to realize that, depending on where they get them from, that resources such as food, fuel, medicine, rare earth minerals, metals ect. , may need to be procured from more reliable and stable sources.
Indeed, having ignored the Budapest Memorandum–practically allowing mafia land to violate it while the response was pathetic–has proven that the only guarantee for safety is to have a few nukes.