JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon speaks during the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee’s oversight hearing on Wall Street firms, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 6, 2023.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon sees risks increasing around the world as conflicts in the Middle East expand and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shows no signs of abating.
“We have been closely monitoring the geopolitical situation for some time, and recent events show that conditions are treacherous and increasingly worse,” Dimon said in the bank’s third-quarter earnings release on Friday.
“There is significant human suffering, and the outcome of these situations could have far-reaching consequences for both short-term economic outcomes and, more importantly, for the course of history,” he said.
The international order in force since the end of World War II is disintegrating in the face of conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine, rising tensions between the US and China and the risk of ‘nuclear blackmail’ from Iran, North -Korea and Russia, Dimon said recently. month during a fireside chat at Georgetown University.
“It’s on the rise, folks, and it’s going to take really strong American leadership and Western world leaders to do something about it,” Dimon said in Georgetown. “That’s my biggest concern, and it dwarfs everything I’ve had since I’ve been working.”
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas recently reached the one-year mark since Hamas’ attack sparked war on October 7, 2023, and shows little sign of it slowing down. Tens of thousands of people have been killed as the conflict has expanded to include fighting on multiple fronts, including with Hezbollah and Iran.
At least 22 people were killed and on Thursday, more than 100 were injured in Beirut as a result of Israeli airstrikes. Iran launched more than 180 missiles against Israel on October 1, and concerns have arisen that an Israeli retaliation could target Iranian oil facilities.
Meanwhile, the Russian government last week approved a draft budget that increased defense spending by 25% above 2024 levels, a sign that Russia is determined to continue its invasion of Ukraine, analysts say.
Dimon also said Friday that he remained wary about the future of the economy, despite signs that the Federal Reserve has engineered a soft landing.
“While inflation is slowing and the U.S. economy remains resilient, several critical issues remain, including large budget deficits, infrastructure needs, trade restructuring and global remilitarization,” Dimon said. “While we hope for the best, these events and the prevailing uncertainty demonstrate why we must be prepared for any environment.”