The war in Ukraine has brought back the debate on international security among European countries, especially in the countries of the former Soviet bloc in Central and Eastern Europe. Most of these countries, such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, broke free from the communist regime with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the 1980s.

In the July 26 Financial Times article entitled “Is the Dollar about to Take a Turn?,” Barry Eichengreen writes that the US dollar has had a spectacular run, having risen more than 10 percent against other major currencies since the start of the year. According to Eichengreen, the key reason behind the spectacular strengthening in the US Dollar is that the Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates faster than other big central banks, drawing capital flows toward the US.