The Ukraine war, Trump tariffs and about bringing back the dodo

MORE THAN ABOUT THE ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha’s article spoke to me about the interconnectedness of the world. And how everyone gets hurt in some way or another when the world becomes unquiet. The ‘butterfly effect’ speaks of one small change in an area triggering drastic changes in another, despite the sectors being unconnected.

 

An example cited by Sybiha is about how Ukraine played a crucial part in helping develop ISRO’s semi-cryogenic engine, the SCE-200. It fuelled India’s Chandrayaan dreams. I remember a photograph that was shown to me after the Chandrayaan-3 launch, of the spacecraft’s rocket lighting up the sky over Byron Bay, Australia. The photographer had clicked the image 30 minutes after the launch from Sriharikota. Interconnectedness, as I said.

 

The minister has called for a “fair peace and real security”, and not one where “the large and the powerful decide the fate of the smaller”. It is a desire that we all share for our own country and every nation in the world. Sybiha expresses hope that 2025 will see the end of the war. It is a hope and prayer that we share with you, minister. And, thank you for taking the time to reach out to THE WEEK’s readers.

 

Mridula Ghosh, who has been writing for us regularly from Kyiv, bolsters this cover with her views on the conflict. Among other things, she quotes a report by the American Enterprise Institute which said that “Ukraine aid supports defence manufacturing in over 70 American cities”.

 

She cites another study that said that US President Donald Trump’s usage of “aid to Ukraine” is a misnomer because 60 per cent of that aid stays in the US, 25 per cent reaches Ukraine and 15 per cent is spent globally for humanitarian assistance and the like. Interconnectedness on another level, if you like. Additionally, in the cover story we have a guest column by Ambassador V.B. Soni, former Indian envoy to Ukraine.

 

This issue is heavy on international affairs, I admit, as we also have a large article on Trump tariffs by Senior Assistant Editor K. Sunil Thomas, who writes that how India deals with the challenges and the opportunities will shape our future. We also have an interview by Senior Correspondent Shubhangi Shah with Saad Mohseni, CEO of Moby Group, Afghanistan’s largest media company. And, in Sound Bite, Anita Pratap says that Norwegians do not want to go to the US even as tourists now.

 

Another bit of good reading I would recommend is Pooja Biraia’s article on how the dodo is set to make a comeback in 2028. They say that if you live long enough, you might see most of your beliefs (and a few old sayings) proven wrong. In my case, the saying is: Dead as a dodo.

 

Russia runs through this issue all the way to @leisure, where Deputy News Editor Navin J. Antony writes about Hollywood’s geopolitics-shaped view of Russia. I loved the punchline:

 

“In The Putin Interviews, after watching Dr Strangelove; Putin rises to leave. Oliver Stone hands him the film case, and Putin walks off only to return moments later, holding the empty case. The disc, apparently, is still in the player.

 

With a smirk, Putin raises the empty case: ‘Typical American gift.’”

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