Recent developments in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war between the West and Russia have led many to believe that the new Cold War has begun. And yet there is little in common between the current situation and the period when it was identified with the geopolitical domination of two superpowers (US-USSR) and two coalitions.
The confrontation of two ideological worlds with universal ambitions, which was accompanied by the end of colonialism and the decline of traditional great powers, is now gone forever. In the new world a lot is changing. The international behavior of the Asian states of Africa and Latin America, which we once took for granted, would be perhaps the most interesting development in either coalition.
Examples abound in Asia in particular. Turkey has played a wonderful role as a “smart neutral” state by keeping the distance between Russia and Ukraine causing headaches in the US, as well as in the European Union. Indonesia, a former anti-communist dictatorship of 270 million people, has distanced itself from condemning Russia, irritating the United States. India not only did not condemn the Russian invasion but despised the embargo against Russia. In March alone, it imported 360 thousand barrels of oil per day, four times more than the average of the previous year.
There is no doubt that the countries of Southeast Asia do not want to be involved in a new Cold War or unconditional alignment with one or the other power. The then “Cold War” left many nations around the world desperately poor and underdeveloped at the end of the Cold War. As on other continents, similar developments are observed. Mexico, a traditional US ally, has now declared its neutrality, and President Lopez Obrador has rejected sanctions against Russia as a real thorn in the side of the United States, which does not view its stance as genuine neutrality, but as a rather pro-Russia stance. .
In general, an air of emancipation is blowing in the developing world. Governments representing more than half the world’s population refused to vote in favor of either side in last month’s UN General Assembly vote on Russia’s expulsion from the Human Rights Council.
Dozens of countries abstained, including India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and Singapore. Developments leave no doubt that this emancipation of the developing world is nothing but a sign of wider change. Many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America are no longer the poor, corrupt dictatorships suffering from colonialism, the clients of the world’s powerful for a few crumbs.
In previous years their economy had grown. Poverty has been reduced, the state has improved several sectors of its functioning, life expectancy has increased, illiteracy has decreased, public health has improved. In some cases in developing countries, institutions, including democratic institutions and the rule of law, can be compared to those of Western countries or even Eastern European countries.
The threat now posed by precision and the energy crisis in the developing world is so great that it activates it beyond traditional geopolitical alignments, showing its readiness to defend primarily its own interests rather than the interests of the superpowers.
