What is happening while you are not watching?

Today’s geopolitical gambits promise endgames long after the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic and — too often — the halting response from governments are today’s leading global concern. After all, some projections suggest that if we opt for mitigation rather than suppression, this choice may result in a higher body count than any single event since the Middle Ages. And that’s including the World Wars.

There is a cost to all that attention. Different geopolitical actors understand that if they want to make small moves that may, over time, result in broader shifts towards desired trajectories, this is an excellent time to act. This applies especially to more nefarious types but should also be understood by all who will have to live in a world of their making.

Here’s a rundown of things that have happened just over the last couple of weeks.

1) Oil, or the Russia-Saudi price war. At any other time, an OPEC+ disagreement over production targets that sends markets into a free fall would lead global news coverage. While the United States and others need to focus on their domestic concerns, Russia is trying to mold the global energy market, and the Saudis don’t look likely to back down either.

2) Violence, or Iran meets the U.S. and India meets Pakistan. Tensions flared as Iranian proxies hit U.S. forces in Iraq, resulting in American casualties. Arriving on the heels of recently downed planes, a study shows how even a limited nuclear war between India and Pakistan would result in worldwide food shortages.

3) Speech, or the Chinese expulsion of U.S. journalists. Everyone expected China to retaliate after last month’s U.S. decision to designate several Chinese news outlets as government entities. Now, three reporters from leading U.S. newspapers are forced to leave Beijing — and cannot even relocate to Hong Kong. Many fear that U.S.-China tensions are only beginning to rise.

4) Finance, or Caracas appeals to the IMF. The Bolivarian government must be truly desperate to turn to the hated Washington Consensus for $5 billion in emergency lending — a request that was immediately rejected due to a lack of clarity over who is Venezuela’s legitimate leader. Expect the humanitarian catastrophe to only worsen.

Oil, violence, speech and finance keep on shaping the world even in time of pandemic. What else do you see out there?