Oil markets are jumpy as the Russia-Ukraine war drags on. Can - should - the U.S. do more to help Ukraine?
The oil markets are jumpy and moving higher as the Russia-Ukraine war drags on. Shoring up Ukraine (as the poster above entreats in a public domain image posted on wikimedia commons), bringing the war to a close, getting things back to normal … can the U.S. do more to help Ukraine?
Should the U.S. do more? Yes, of course, and the reasons make sense on several fronts, including the geo-political, the economic and the moral.
First, the economic. A spike in the oil markets was probably bound to happen at some point in the apparently endless conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries have pushed the oil market to levels we haven’t seen for a while, with crude breaking above the $80/barrel level in recent days.
The rally has bumped up the gasoline markets, which here in Rapid City have moved from around $2.70/gallon to around $3.20/gallon in recent weeks. That reflects an upward spike in prices at the major energy exchanges around the world, a situation that can get particularly dicey here in our agriculture-centric state of South Dakota, where energy expenditures are a significant cost in the production of food.
And, as everybody, particularly out here in the Black Hills, knows, it isn’t all about food production, either. The tourism sector is also taking notice.
Tourism is a sizable chunk of our economy, supporting nearly 60,000 jobs in our state. The energy markets can cause some anxiety around here because gas prices have an effect on visitation numbers, as they did in 2022. High prices at the pump negatively affect the industry overall and, more specifically, segments within the tourist industry. High-priced gas cuts into disposable income, meaning less money is spent on other purchases, like food, lodging, souvenirs and attractions.
Now, as the 2024 tourist season approaches, you can bet that industry watchers are keeping their eyes on the energy markets and hoping that we don’t get the kind of price spike we saw in ‘22. This recent series of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s oil production infrastructure – it’s important to note that Russia is the third largest oil producer in the world – is about the last thing we need as we head into our planting and tourist seasons.
Can the United States do something? Hard to say. The debate is stalled by Republicans in Congress. It’s frustrating because every time I see a picture of a Russian oil refinery blowing up, I know that some South Dakota farmer and tourism-oriented business will feel a bit of a pinch … and that’s saying nothing about everybody in the state who drives a car.
My take also considers the geo-political needs of a stable world. The United States should do everything possible to help the Ukrainians, not just for the reason that we don’t need volatile commodity markets roiled up by this war, but because world order demands it. Ukraine did nothing to start this war and is now doing everything in its power to hold off the Russian bullies who feel some sort of weird need to take over their much smaller neighbor.
A most compelling reason for strong American support is that a Russian victory would be a successful step in the eventual disruption of the world community, setting a precedent for bigger countries to invade and occupy their smaller neighbors for no purpose other than conquest and expansion.
That possibility, along with economic disturbances and dislocations in the world’s trading channels should compel us to help the Ukrainians hold off their oppressors.
There are moral components to the argument for more American aid, too, and they should override the relentlessly political tone of the discussion in Congress, much of it bogged down by Republicans.
Those Republicans who are reluctant to continue giving Ukraine the necessary materials to fight a war often tout a concept known as “American exceptionalism,” which in the 2016 GOP platform was defined as “the notion that our ideas and principles as a nation give us a unique place of moral leadership in the world.”
That has a nice ring to it, but if Republicans, including our all-Republican leadership and representation here in South Dakota, regard the United States as an ‘exceptional’ country they must consider that with ‘exceptionalism’ comes authority and responsibility. ‘Exceptional’ entities don’t go off into a corner and hide when evil is operating in plain sight.
John Tsitrian is a businessman and writer from the Black Hills. He was a weekly columnist for the Rapid City Journal for 20 years. His articles and commentary have also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Denver Post and The Omaha World-Herald. Tsitrian served in the Marines for three years (1966-69), including a 13-month tour of duty as a radioman in Vietnam. Reprint with permission.
