Opinion

War in Ukraine has created a new financial weapon in the West

The forces of good have found courage. From ordinary Ukrainians preparing molotov cocktails to Germany’s leader proclaiming an end to his nation’s geopolitical passivity, the shifts have been extraordinary. But the Ukraine war has brought another development.

The West has invented a new weapon.

The weapon consists of freezing a country’s reserves of gold and foreign currency. This maneuver has always been possible in theory, but few had imagined using it. Now, its power has been laid bare. Overnight, it can turn a financially sound economy into a basket case.