Economic wargaming is an important element of international economic networks, particularly today. At ITFA’s 50th annual conference in Cyprus, Rebecca Harding, Director at Rebeccanomics, explained a few reasons to Deepesh Patel, Editorial Director at Trade Finance Global (TFG).

“Since Russia invaded Ukraine, we have been using sanctions, export controls – economic measures, financial measures – to deter and coerce an adversary.”

This is not a new concept, nor is it localised. Economic wargaming has happened across Europe, America, the UK, and indeed across the world.

But Harding went on to explain, “What’s interesting about all of this is that trade finance banks are absolutely in the middle of this. Banks are the foot soldiers in these types of campaigns, so they just have to do what governments say. Increasingly, what’s happening is that banks are actually being used as weapons.”

That is to say, “Banks are tanks in this framework.”

Strategies in response involve modelling. “We need to think about where we are likely to be hit by these types of government measures. In short, we need to start gaming how these measures will affect our businesses, whether that’s digital, sustainability, treasuries, working capital, lending, etc.”

Wargaming is becoming increasingly important to this industry and demands immediate attention. Watch the full interview to find out more.