I'm John Batchel. I welcome my colleague and friend Anatole Levin. He is the Eurasia program director for the

Quincy Institute of Responsible Statecraft. We're observing now that the whole world is involved in the

conflict in the Gulf, in the Persian Gulf. The wider war is upon us. There is no way to say that

you're not participating because of the price of oil, the price of natural gas.

What could be soon enough shortages of both those energy products.

Plus, I add this that I've learned in these last days.

Fertilizer.

There's not enough for the needs.

Russia has decided not to allow fertilizer to be exported, though there is a rich market for it.

The same for the U.S., I believe, in other countries.

They need all the fertilizer they have now because the nitrogen necessary to create the fertilizer

is not coming out of the Middle East in the form of natural gas.

Why this is a pressing matter, I think I have it correct. The farmers are making

a decision about whether they plant corn, which requires lots of fertilizer, nitrogen-rich fertilizer,

and soybean that does not. The corn has a part of the supply chain of maintaining other parts of the

food chain. Soybean has other parts of the food chain.

So these are profound matters that are upon us.

There are other shortages out of the Middle East, but the whole world is watching.

So Anatole, a very good day to you.

What I'm watching in particular is the confusion in my mind of Moscow, Tehran, Washington, Jerusalem, and to look again at the

contest of what's going on, Brussels is watching too, because that's the combined capital of NATO

and the EU. Now, the question of Ukraine is necessary for us, so I'm going to put Keef in the mix.

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