I Dwell in Possibility: Global Perspectives after the War

The western perception of the war in Ukraine as Russia’s imperialistic aggression against a former colony is not necessarily shared worldwide. As voting in the UN has indicated, other countries may have contrasting perspectives or be indifferent. In the global south, the collective west is often accused of hypocrisy, of being unsympathetic to the food and energy security challenges of others, and of controlling a disproportionate share of global wealth. This provides opportunities for the power ambitions of other global players. Russia seeks power in Africa and Asia using tools that range from diplomacy, through arms sales, to the deployment of the Wagner Group. China seeks the same through economic coercion, loans, and investments. A long confrontation between Russia and the west would partly be a confrontation between different value systems, requiring the west to fight for hearts and minds in the global south.

Speakers

Abdullah Baabood

Chair of the State of Qatar for Islamic Area Studies at Waseda University

Jessica Berlin

Foreign Policy Analyst and Managing Director, CoStruct

Monica Juma

National Security Advisor to the President of the Republic of Kenya

Chilamkuri Raja Mohan

Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute

Peter Van Praagh

Founding President of Halifax International Security Forum

Moderator

Bobo Lo

Independent International Relations Analyst

Are the global south’s indifference to the war and growing assertiveness towards the west signs of a shifting international order? Are spheres of influence inevitable in a multipolar world? What are the prospects for and implications of the global south emerging in some form as an international actor in its own right? What should the west do differently so as not to lose its relevance in the global south?

Emily Dickinson “I Dwell in possibility” (poem title) (1890)