World Needs a Breather

At the heart of the ongoing turmoil is trade. As the Middle East and Eastern Europe turn into volatile zones, trade routes are compromised, forcing suppliers to use alternative paths-a very expensive and consuming endeavour

- RAJEEV NARAYAN

Some days I can't stop thinking about you. On other days, I wonder why I am wasting my time." - Quoteistan Recent months have taken a toll on the world and its people, as we have watched the Russia-Ukraine standoff fighting neck-and-neck for eyeballs with the conflagration in the Middle-East. If that weren't enough to keep us staring at screens of myriad sizes, we have had the US Presidential elections and the aftermath, Justin Trudeau's remarks on Khalistanis (even former elected Canadian members are cursing him for that) and India's very own burying of the hatchet with China.

These developments have had a visible impact on international trade and the tactile business of business. Critical shipments and supplies have been rerouted to avoid "shipping danger zones" in and around the Red Sea, stock markets have gone into a tizzy, currencies are slipping into oblivion, while wages and earnings hit unsustainable nadirs. The only way to find succour is to end this confrontation and mental bombardment. And allowing the business of life to resume.

At the heart of the upheaval is the persistent standoff between Israel and Iran, with verbal and ballistic missiles raining down to shatter homes and rend lives and dreams. The result is that the Middle-East's ecosystem, always fragile and sometimes unstable, finds itself teetering on the brink of absolute breakdown, endangering countless and reshaping global trade dynamics.

The ramifications extend far beyond the war zone, impacting economies, supply chains and stock markets thousands of miles away. As trade routes transform into battlefields, the fallout is being felt worldwide. "Re-routing of shipments is causing delays and shortages everywhere," says Eliza Harman, economic analyst at the Global Trade Institute. "There's a cascading impact on production, availability and prices, all ultimately borne by everyday people."