In the West, it has only recently become apparent how unwilling countries other than the West are to choose sides when it comes to condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
World the leaders don’t agree on anything, but they do agree that the old times won’t return. This year will decide what the new world order will look like.
If Russia manages to crush Ukraine in its war of aggression or take parts of it for itself, the European Union and NATO will lose their credibility as global power actors.
World the biggest dictatorship China is watching how Russia is doing. China supports Russia, but also keeps a distance from it so that economic relations with the West are not broken. The West’s line is that China does not arm Russia in a war of aggression against Ukraine. At least that’s what they say now.
China evaluates not only Russia, but also the West’s response to Russia, so that China can calibrate its own plans. If violence pays off and the borders of a sovereign state can be moved with insolence while the West watches from the sidelines, the way is open to people other than Russia. The threat concerns Taiwan, which China considers part of it.
US President Joe Biden says his country’s troops will defend Taiwan if China attacks. We don’t know if this is credible from China.
If China attacks Taiwan, the war in Ukraine will be just one stage of the world war.
In any case, Europe has to increase its responsibility for Ukraine without the current support of the United States. At the same time, the West has discovered that the rest of the world does not support it.
War In Ukraine, he emphasized the importance of the relationship between Europe and the United States. NATO found itself. The old enemy Russia is also a new enemy.
Of course, the West has also tried to act against Russia through diplomacy. However, alliances are changing.
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The West miscalculated its own prestige.
The dividing lines of the new world order do not run in such a way that democracies and authoritarian countries are opposite each other. It is clearly seen in the UN, when the General Assembly has demanded that Russia withdraw from Ukraine.
In the General Assembly’s vote on the anniversary of the war, 141 countries demanded Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine. China, India and 30 other countries abstained from voting. In addition to Russia, only six countries opposed the resolution.
The resolution received strong support in itself – as long as it was sufficiently rounded.
in Europe it has only just become apparent how reluctant countries other than the West are to choose sides. In addition to India, South Africa is also careful not to condemn Russia too harshly.
A new kind of analysis of the global south has entered the speeches of Western leaders – finally.
The global south refers to low- or middle-income countries located in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Much of the Global South is disillusioned and frustrated with the West, which is seen as arrogant and self-centered. The West is accused of double standards.
In the coronavirus pandemic, the West quickly vaccinated its own, but left others to suffer. China also scored points in the pandemic policy.
The burden of colonialism has not disappeared, which, for example, France has experienced in Mali. The French troops were replaced by the Russian Wagner army. Even the Soviet Union supported the liberation movements of many African countries. That is why South Africa’s bond with Russia is still strong.
When Europe has a regional war from Africa’s point of view, that is Europe’s problem.
Also in Finland some were upset that the global south was not the first to condemn Russia. It was even proposed to cut development aid.
The reaction shows that development policy is still being talked about in Finland as it was in the past. Many people would be ready to leave developing countries and developing countries in the favor of China and Russia.
It can be difficult to admit that the West miscalculated its own prestige. The West failed in countering the influence of China and Russia.
The West is not trusted. Without trust, a multilateral international system, for example the UN, cannot stand. In order for the Global South to trust the West and also for the UN system to be reformed into a functioning producer of security and stability, the West must listen to what the Global South says and needs.
The author is the editor-in-chief of HS.
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