QPC seminar explores impact of Russia-Ukraine war on global economy

The Qatar Press Centre (QPC) held a seminar in co-operation with the Media Development Department at Qatar Media Corporation (QMC) on the 'Russian-Ukrainian war and its impact on the global economy'.The seminar saw the participation of speakers Abdullah al-Khater, an economist; Dr Mohamed al-Sharkawy, a political analyst; and Dr Sultan Barakat, a strategic expert, while Mohamad al-Ansari was the moderator.Dr al-Khater explained that there are economic repercussions of the Russia-Ukraine war, the most important of which are the energy crisis and the impact on global supply chains, in addition to inflation as well as rising prices and interest rates, which have caused multiple shocks for the global market and affected the international economy negatively.Dr al-Khater said the significant rise in energy prices, especially in Europe, had a significant effect on the European economy. He added that the war presented a number of political and economic intersections, which led to a set of transformations in the global system - that it is moving from an old system to a new one, led by BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) that introduces different economic concepts, especially with regard to trust and financial stability in stock exchanges and global markets.Dr Barakat regarded the Russia-Ukraine war, which was, according to him, "artificial because this conflict existed in 2010, but Volodymyr Zelensky’s advent contributed to the signing and implementation of a number of agreements, indicating that the Europeans dealt incorrectly with the Russia-Ukraine crisis because they dealt with it as a bloc". It was safer to make some countries neutral for a number of historical and political reasons”.Dr Barakat said the war increased the problems that the world was already going through as a result of the repercussions of Covid-19 and its direct impact on production and food, which doubled the threats and raised prices dramatically around the globe.Dr al-Sharkawi pointed out that the real war is an economic-political one, especially after the emergence of political disagreement between Russia and China over dealing with the US iIn light of the emergence of the BRICS alliance, which will form a new economic system. He believed that the war in Ukraine is not being run by military forces, but is rather an economic-political battle, and so it is difficult to determine its time span.It is a war of economic camps in which there is a financial investment in the war, and its weapons are grain and oil.At the conclusion of the seminar, QPC honoured 'Al Sharq' newspaper and a number of local media organisations for supporting its work and for their continuous partnership to enrich the Qatari media scene.