The hit of the global COVID-19 pandemic altered the state of the world in ways that no one had predicted. The challenges that arose were not only limited to health concerns but went further into the political, social, and economic levels. There were countless industries that were impacted including manufacturing, hotels/restaurants, airlines, apparel, etc. With this pandemic there were greater level of setbacks for businesses than could have been expected to happen, which created consequences not only for the government but for the consumers as well. The government was inevitably handed the sudden increased responsibility of healthcare distribution as well as executing decisions for business closures and post-pandemic assistance for reopening. This paper will use data collected by several government sources and independent research bases to investigate the world before, during, and after the pandemic. With the information presented the goal is to give insights into what actually happened and shifted during the pandemic as well as what strategies are being implemented currently to help bounce back from the initial drastic hit. Alongside this it is hoped that a greater understanding of the challenges that are being faced shows where there could be more resources and focus provided in order to help both domestic and international businesses recover to pre-pandemic states.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, and has caused a ripple effect of global supply disruptions. The United States, Canada, EU and other allies have responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by sanctioning imports from Russia in an attempt to isolate their economy. However, some countries that have not placed trade sanctions on Russia are taking advantage of the opportunity to import from Russia. By integrating import data from Panjiva into a geospatial mapping tool, ArcGIS, global trade patterns can be visualized to understand how global trade is impacted, the effectiveness of Western sanctions on Russia, and potential substitution effects on trade flows from one country to another. First, six key commodities and three countries were identified based on preliminary data analysis. After further analysis, it can be concluded that the Russian sanctions were not effective at isolating their economy for two reasons: certain commodities are critical to our modern lifestyles and some countries took advantage of Western trade sanctions on Russia and increased global trade. In an attempt to diversify their supply, many firms sourced from countries other than Russia, but oftentimes commodities are still sourced from Russia. Lack of supply chain visibility prevents business leaders from making the most efficient supply networks that are in alignment with government regulations.