Tag Archives: Russia

Hub book reviews: Why the West is Losing the New Cold War with Russia

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By Jonathan Chevreau

Over the holiday break I’ve been reading about Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, who came to power at the turn of the millennium.  As one of the three books flagged below points out, Russia is the only power that has the capacity to destroy the United States in a nuclear strike. Those who assumed the west “won” the Cold War when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 should keep reading. From Ukraine to the War in Syria and the battles over gas pipelines and the plummeting price of oil, Russia is very much in the news as we enter 2015. It’s a fascinating story in itself but investors will find it of particular relevance.

putinbookThe Man Without a Face

Before his surprise appointment by Boris Yeltsin, little was known about the former KGB (now FSB) operative, which is why Masha Gessen titled her 2012 book about him The Man Without a Face. Subtitled The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin, the gutsy Moscow-based veteran journalist pulls no punches about the true nature of Putin’s Russia.

She traces Putin’s formative years in a chapter entitled “Autobiography of a Thug.”   Continue Reading…

Do investors need to start worrying about Russia?

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Good piece by Bloomberg today on the emerging troubles for Russia. Here is the Financial Post’s play of the story.

Like troubled Brazil, Russia is another trouble spot among the four BRIC nations. (Brazil, Russia, India, China). While most investors probably have minimal exposure to BRIC economies (either through BRIC ETFs or mutual funds, or in more diluted fashion, Emerging Markets funds), this is an example of a geo-political emerging event that bears carefully watching.

Sometimes these seemingly limited local eruptions have a way of spreading globally and ultimately impacting markets far beyond. For an example, check out this Wikipedia entry on the 1997 Asian crisis, which began in Thailand. I dare say when investors first heard about trouble with the collapsing Thai baht, they had no idea the trouble would soon spread to the rest of Asia, with possible global repercussions. To contain it, the IMF had to step in with US$40 billion.

So investors should monitor the events in Russia closely. This is a good example of why we need to pay attention to geopolitics and macroeconomics. Right now, ISIS, oil, Turkey and the Middle East is at centre stage of investor concerns but the events in Russia, including the Ukraine, call for scrutiny and caution. Here’s Business Insider’s take on Russsia’s encroachments on the Ukraine.