Is McDonald's withdrawing from Russia symptomatic of deglobalisation?

Or disglobalisation?

This news story caught my attention.

"McDonald’s is to sell its business in Russia, after 30 years of operating its restaurants in the country, in the light of Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

The fast food operator said the humanitarian crisis caused by Russia’s invasion and the unpredictable operating environment meant continuing running restaurants in the country was “no longer tenable” or “consistent with McDonald’s values”.

The company intends to “de-arch” the outlets, removing the McDonald’s name, logo, branding and menu, before they are sold to a local buyer – the first time it has taken such measures in a major market. It will, however, retain its trademarks in Russia, where Chris Kempczinski, the chief executive of McDonald’s, said the company “embodied the very notion of glasnost”."

From the Guardian. Link is here.

This adds to the debate post-covid and taking into account the Russia-Ukraine conflict about whether globalisation has gone into reverse.

I conducted a seminar on this with my Year 13 economists recently, and there are clear overlaps with the Global Politics course (and Geography, by the way). Additional reading, therefore, is here. I hope you have access to the free FT for Schools (!).

Article by Chris Giles.

Article by Megan Greene.