Geopolitical Shockwaves: A New Iron Curtain Descends

Over the past two years, updates to the Henley Passport Index have helped us understand a world disrupted by the pandemic. COVID-19 travel restrictions showed the growing gap between rich countries (Global North) and poorer countries (Global South). Each update highlighted how much harder it was for people from the Global South to travel freely.

The latest ranking now shows the impact of a different kind of crisis: war.

Russia’s War on Ukraine and Its Effect on Travel

Six weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, the effects on travel and mobility have been worse than most experts predicted. The Henley Passport Index shows that the war has had a major and possibly permanent effect on freedom of movement in the region, creating a new “Iron Curtain.”

The invasion caused Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II, with over 4 million Ukrainians fleeing
to neighboring countries in just six weeks.

In response, the EU, US, Canada, and other Western countries closed their airspace to Russian airlines, banned Russian citizens from traveling, and in many cases stopped processing visa applications, as seen recently in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

These sanctions have made the Russian passport very weak, isolating the country like…