How a Russian invasion of Ukraine would reverberate around the world

The effectiveness of a NATO-led response is also crucial in determining how long and far-reaching the impacts of any invasion would be, analysts agree.

But any Russian move would carry a test of Western nations’ resolve and pose a series of economic and security uncertainties.

“This is easily the most serious security crisis in Europe since the 1980s,” Gould-Davies said.

“Russia and the West have disagreed so fundamentally on worldview and that fundamental disagreement has been swept under the carpet for years,” added James Nixey, director of the Russia-Eurasia program at London-based think tank Chatham House.

“Now Russia has decided it’s going to up the ante,” he said. “It is a real-world problem that has global implications.”

A new frontline in Europe

As the threat of a Russian move into Ukraine has grown, so too has the volume of the West’s rhetoric.

US President Joe Biden told CNN Tuesday there would be “severe consequences” over any Russian invasion. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the country would contribute to any new NATO deployment in the wake of an attack, while French President Emmanuel Macron said the “the cost will be very high” if Putin decides to move.

But the “scale of the global reaction depends on the extent of Russia’s insertion into Ukraine,” Nixey said. He added that while many observers are cautiously optimistic that an all-out war will be averted, “I’ve been wrong before — as most Russia analysts have.”

The most immediate consequences beyond Ukraine would be felt in the eastern European and Baltic states which would find an openly bellicose Russia on their doorsteps.

“Ukraine borders several NATO states. There will be a great deal of concern that this is not just something happening nearby that could have spillover effects — but that their security would be threatened,” Gould-Davies said.

“If Russia is allowed, or not discouraged from, re-drawing borders yet again, then quite clearly Russia will take lessons from that itself — where next?,” added Nixey.

Much would then depend on the NATO response, and countries that could find themselves in the firing line would quickly notice an increased troop presence. As many as 8,500 US troops have been put on heightened alert for a possible deployment to eastern Europe, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday. Three US officials familiar with the discussions also told CNN that the United States and allies could send extra deployments to Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary in the coming days.

Ukraine is not a NATO member, and the alliance would likely not send soldiers into the country. But following an incursion, a heavy troop presence would likely remain along Europe’s eastern rim for as long as Russia held Ukrainian land — a prospect that would rekindle memories of a Cold War-era barrier splitting east from west.

“There is going to have to be a response all along that NATO front line that acts as a deterrent … and you have to have a whole war-fighting strategy around that,” said Neil Melvin, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

“In Europe, this would change things enormously — because we’re so far from thinking in those terms,” he added. Melvin predicted that nations would require “large enough forces to fight for a long period, to bring in new forces from the US, [and] to fight cyber dimensions.”

“It’s going to be a huge shift.”

Economic worries

The economic fallout of an invasion is wrought with unknowns, but there are several possible knock-on effects that have worried experts since the buildup of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border first became clear.

Most directly, a disruption to Ukraine’s agricultural production could have a direct impact on food supply.

But more concerning is the wider potential impact on energy supplies, and the consequences of tough Western sanctions on Russia that would be expected after an incursion.

“If you’re talking about a major conflict [involving] one of the biggest energy suppliers in the world — and a major transit country to the rest of Europe — then there can’t not be significant impacts on energy markets,” Gould-Davies said.

Russia provides around 30% of the European Union’s natural gas, with supplies from the country playing a vital role in power generation and home heating across central and eastern Europe.

“We’ve seen Russia in recent months exploit and exacerbate the problems of global energy supply and higher prices,” Gould-Davies added. “Could they contemplate the cost of something much more serious than this?”

An acceleration in that shift would cause “an enormous jolt on [Europe’s] economy, because they’re going to have to do something else,” said Melvin. This could potentially stall plans for a nuclear phase-out in parts of the continent if nations are forced to frantically reach for energy alternatives.

The Biden administration has been conducting contingency planning to shore up Europe’s energy supplies should Russia invade, anticipating gas shortages and a shock to the global economy, senior administration officials said Tuesday.

The EU is meanwhile working on a “wide array of sectoral and individual sanctions” in case of further Russian aggression, according to a European Commission statement that followed a virtual meeting with the leaders of the US, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Poland, the EU and NATO. Biden told CNN he would anticipate “significant economic sanctions.”

Analysts generally expect a wide-ranging package of sanctions that could hit major Russian banks, the oil and gas sector, and technology imports. But the effects on Europe and the rest of the world would be felt, too.

“Any time you impose sanctions, you impose great costs on the target — but you also have the risk of blowback harms on yourself and on your friends and allies,” said Nathan Sales, an acting undersecretary for civilian security, democracy, and human rights at the US State Department during the Trump administration.

And while targeted sanctions on Russian individuals and companies have been relied on since Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, there is still “a substantial investment relationship” between the country and the West that could be ruptured, Melvin said.

“The question now is how much further would those sanctions go, and how much more isolated the Russian economy would become,” he added.

A watching world

Experts said the reverberations of an incursion, and more pertinently the strength of the Western response, will be felt worldwide. Some fear that any Russian move that it could chalk up as a victory could encourage other nations engaged in border disputes.

That context is underscoring a sense in some quarters that the US response to the Ukraine crisis could dictate how it is viewed around the world for a generation.

“We would be seeing knock-on effects for years and maybe decades to come” if Russia orchestrates a successful move, Sales said. “That is going to tell dictators around the world that the US is a paper tiger.”

He cited “rogue regimes like North Korea and Iran” as other nations that could seek to capitalize on such an outcome. But Sales added there also exists “a scenario where the US and NATO come out of this crisis with their credibility enhanced,” should a strong response initiate a Russian climbdown.

Should lengthy tensions follow a Russian incursion, a debate could also be renewed in the US about what role the country should play in Europe. “They have a very stark political divide now between a global policeman role, which Biden has advocated, or the other camp that we only do what’s in the US interests,” said Melvin.

Though many implications of a Russian move into Ukraine remain far from certain, there is one thing experts can agree on. “In international politics, everyone is always watching everyone else,” Gould-Davies said.