Is the world more resilient than it ever was? A pertinent question to ask, considering that post-COVID there have been several disruptions in the form of wars and fairly idiosyncratic policies pursued by the US. Yet, the world has not gone into a recession. Nor has there been runaway inflation in any geography. This is notwithstanding considerable volatility in the markets, where currencies and bonds have been erratic, which has been superseded, contrarily, by stock indices that have, in general, done very well. Just how does one piece this together?

The war between Russia and Ukraine led to an embargo on the former, with its foreign exchange reserves being impounded. There was a ban on dealing with Russia, though some allowances were made in terms of time, especially for gas imports. Then came the Israel-Hamas conflict, which continues even today. There were no sanctions on Israel, however, with the world condemning the action but not willing to take any action against the genocide. In 2025, President Trump had countries running to the US to strike deals to bring down tariff rates, which were unilaterally raised with differential rates for different countries.

The US invaded Iran in 2026 even after claiming to have destroyed its nuclear facilities a year earlier. The world went silent, with meek protests from some European countries that refused to support the action but did not openly condemn it. There was similar silence earlier when the US unilaterally picked........

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