Russia, Ukraine, Schrodinger's cat and our interconnected world

I recently read a very interesting commentary on Vladimir Putin’s strategy with respect to Ukraine. On Bloomberg, Andreas Kluth suggested that Mr Putin may have deliberately created a crisis in which everything is possible at once. “ In the same way Schrodinger’s cat is both dead and alive, Putin is in permanent superposition of attacking and not attacking, infiltrating and not infiltrating, and has the world’s attention on him.”

It’s a fascinating supposition and doesn’t sound completely bananas.

But it can’t go on forever. At some point, even the Russians have to either go into Ukraine or go away from it.

Whatever happens, it will illustrate how deeply we’re all connected.

For instance, a war in Ukraine would mean that Russia, one of the world’s largest grain exporters, would be suddenly prevented from sending supplies around the globe. Western sanctions would mean food prices would rise.

Global supply chains would also get into a bit of a snarl as commodities markets would tighten for n…