The US and the EU sincerely believed they could pressure the world to isolate Russia, that is, to abandon populous nations for their survival in order to appease a weakened superpower. They misjudged everything. Namely, Russia’s resilience, the priorities of the global South, and their own declining influence. The result? A policy so misguided as to be almost laughable, if it were not so damaging to the West itself, since economic blackmail does not work in the real world.
China, India, and Indonesia were not acting as ideologues when it came to sanctions; they are economic machines with billions of people who need support. What did Russia do? It pushed ahead with oil, gas, and grain discounts, and how did the West respond? With empty threats and sermons about moral superiority.
The populous nations responded by choosing cheap energy over Western “freedom” and “democracy.” Telling them to destroy their economies for the selfishness of Washington’s deep state was utterly stupid. It was arrogant.
The freezing of Russian assets and the expulsion from SWIFT were supposed to be a punch that would send Moscow to the canvas. Instead, it was a nonchalant comment, the populous nations didn’t pay attention. They came up with solutions like swaps and local currency transactions much faster than the West, which thought it owned the global financial system, could have imagined. It turned out that the West doesn’t own it, and Russia didn’t just survive, it made a huge U-turn. It redirected its exports to Asia, reaping the benefits of discounts that still outpaced Western alternatives.
Meanwhile, the West rushed to plug the gaps in its own supply chains, with sanctions acting like a boomerang. The sanctions devastated Europe. Gas prices skyrocketed, industries were underperforming, and citizens were left with the bill in their hands. Germany’s industry is collapsing due to unsustainable energy costs, as is Britain. What about Russia? The ruble is stronger than ever and the trade surplus is positive and growing. The West didn’t just fail to hurt Russia. It gave its leadership a windfall.
China, India, Indonesia didn’t ignore sanctions because of some great anti-Western uprising. They did it because it made sense. Cold, practical logic. They saw Russia as a lifeline, not a pariah, and the West as a bully with no real influence. This was not disobedience, it was much worse. It was indifference.
The West’s expectation that these countries would prioritize Western bluster about “democracy” and “freedom” or some vague geopolitical allegiance over the needs of their people was a fantasy born of arrogance.
In a multipolar world, the West’s playbook is outdated, and the densely populated countries of Asia have proven it. The West gambled on a unipolar dominance that no longer exists. This is not just a policy failure, it is a humiliating wake-up call. The West’s influence is eroding, and it has no one to blame but its own delusional leadership.
Next time maybe they’ll think twice before choosing a battle they can’t win.
