The Guardian: The Ukraine war reveals a new world order, and the power of the South is the winner

“Ukraine war reveals a new world order, and the power of the South is the winner,” the title of an article, the Guardian newspaper published by Nathalie Tocci.

The unpleasant surprise shocked many in Europe and North America, when many countries refused to agree to the sanctions imposed on Russia because of its war on Ukraine.

“Forty countries impose sanctions on Russia, but two-thirds of the world’s population lives in countries that don’t,” Tocci wrote.

The geopolitical division over the Russian war on Ukraine was starkly evident, once again, at the recent G20 summit in India in early September, according to the writer.

Consensus could barely be reached on a watered-down statement, which referred to the war in Ukraine without mentioning Russian aggression.

The term “Global South” suddenly appeared in almost every gathering in the West.

But it’s increasingly used in the South as well, and more loosely, it includes what were called developing countries and many formerly colonized countries.

This includes economic powers such as China and India, medium-sized powers such as Türkiye, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, and poor countries struggling to make their voices heard.

In order to be heard, they are building and expanding organizations such as the recent expansion of the BRICS group, and playing a diplomatic role as Saudi Arabia hosted representatives of more than 40 countries in Jeddah, to discuss the principles of ending the Russian invasion.

They are also taking more forceful positions, such as threatening the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with military intervention in response to the coup in Niger, even if little action is taken in its aftermath.

“The (Southern Power) countries create a role for themselves in the world through diplomacy, trade relations, and multiple alliances in various organizations”.

Nathalie Tocci believes that the Russian war on Ukraine forced the West to stop ignoring the global South, which had accumulated anger towards the West due to colonialism or neo-colonial policies, or double standards regarding violations of rights and law in different regions of the world.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine will end at some point, but the North’s attention to the geopolitical power of the Southern Hemisphere isn’t a passing moment.