Russia’s effects on Obama, McCain, and the Markets
Russia seems to be taking a somewhat belligerant world stance right now. It would appear that in response to their invading Georgia the US has signed a missle defense treaty with Poland. This all being at the same time that Russia signs defense pact with Syria, cuts ties to NATO, and says their response to the US will go beyond diplomacy.
This is certainly having its effect in the markets, as we have seen energy equities rise their highest in several weeks time. The prices of commodities like Oil and Gas are rising even as the dollar continues to rise in value. These increases would surely appear to be based simply on speculation of a potential east-west conflict. Also at issue is the geographical consequences of conflict as the Caucasas tends to be quite a choking point for crude delivery to Europe.
Another large implication which could be extraplotaed from current geo-political affairs would be the potential implications for domestic politics. Assuming aggression by or towards Russia, the nation would most likely begin to identify more with John McCain for his more hawkish viewpoints and military background. Obama would most likely be caught in a quagmire of attempting to appear strong against foes while trying not to lose his base support. It certainly will be interesting to see how far this may escalate, there is no shortage of world leaders who has forgotten the Cold War.