Russian invasion of Ukraine has global consequences, Coastal Carolina professor warns

Russia’s armed push across its western border into Ukraine could have long-term international consequences including massive spikes in U.S. gas prices and an emboldening of other nations with aims at forceful border expansions, a Coastal Carolina University security expert says.

“Americans need to get familiar with the geography of eastern Europe very quickly, because this going to be affecting their lives in ways that at the moment may seem unthinkable,” Joseph Fitsanakis, director of CCU’s Intelligence Operations Command Center, said Wednesday.

Fitsanakis, a deputy director of the European Intelligence Academy, said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “major gamble” to invade a sovereign country is being watched closely by other nations including China and Iran.

“It’s potentially a turning point in human history where the countries that have these kinds of aspirations realize there isn’t much to stop them, so you might have a domino effect that destabilizes (not just) Europe, but much of the world,” he said.

Global stock markets plummeted Wednesday, hours after Russians launched their offensive, and crippling sanctions levied by western nations including the United States will only plunge the country into further economic disarray.

And that means Americans will be paying upwards of $5 per gallon at the pump, according to industry analysts.

“I take it for granted that gas prices are going to hit historic highs in the next few days,” Fitsanakis said. “This is not something that we should even be speculating. I think it’s going to be a certainty.”

Russia — a nation of 144 million across two continents and 13 time zones — is so vast that most of its citizens are too isolated from the border conflict to worry about it, Fitsanakis said. At least for now.

“It’s not something that the average Russian even cares about (yet), but they will start getting interested if it has adverse effects on the Russian economy and if there are many body bags coming back,” he said.