What If The War in Ukraine Doesn't End?

The UN General Assembly convened the week of September 22nd, for the fourth time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—and once again, the war will was high on the agenda. As the conflict nears its fourth year with no end in sight, the war is contributing to a global military build up, which reached a record $2.7 trillion in 2024, a surge not seen since the Cold War.

John Lough, Head of Foreign Policy at the New Eurasian Strategies Centre, joins this week’s episode as the conflict extends into a grinding war of attrition: disrupting Europe’s security order, straining defense stockpiles, reshaping trade and energy flows while its sparking debate among allies over how to support the resistance. For those of us on the Chamber’s Global Intelligence Desk, the central question is no longer about how this war ends, but rather, what if it drags on for years to come? What are the costs of an open-ended conflict for Ukraine, Europe, and the global economy?

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