My reflections on a year of full-scale war in Ukraine can be read here.
Among them:
Like Ukrainians in general, whose resistance to the Russian onslaught has been remarkable, President Volodymyr Zelensky has done wonders in so many ways. But one thing neither he nor his western supporters have succeeded at — as this New York Times analysis shows — is convincing the global South to support Ukraine in its struggle. Wartime emergencies call for military support, but diplomatic pressure on Russia also needs to increase, which means that Ukraine’s foreign policy must broaden.
There are no good reasons for postcolonial democracies like Lula’s Brazil and the ANC’s South Africa to remain “neutral” in an anti-imperialist, anti-colonial struggle. […] Zelensky and western supporters need to make clear that that’s what this is, and that no “tradition” of cold war “nonalignment” makes sense any more. We’re in a new world with new allies and new enemies, whose contours will increasingly be shaped by new conflicts. One of these — and one whose “war ecology” (to use Pierre Charbonnier’s astute phrase) shapes the nature of this conflict already — is that between fossil-fuel authoritarians (the likes of Putin and Trump) and climate-transitioning democracies (of whom the EU, Biden’s US, and Lula’s Brazil can be leaders).
It’s high time to shed the old lenses and shape a new global reality. In that, Ukraine can stand at the forefront.
Russia is no more open to input from the global south then the US is, it’s all about China and India, both Authoritarian and ethno-nationalist (as absurd as that is given their diverse populations) and neither having any real interest in taking the Putin thorn out of the side of NATO.
It is true that the resistance of the Ukrainian people has been admirable, but diplomatic pressure and the support of the international community are also essential to reach a peaceful and lasting solution. I agree that post-colonial democracies have an important role to play in this conflict and must make clear their position against imperialism and colonialism.