The West Versus the Rest

Russia’s war in Ukraine has drawn Western allies closer together, but it has not unified the world’s democracies in the way U.S. President Joe Biden might have hoped for when the war began in February 2022. Instead, the last year has highlighted just how differently much of the rest of the world sees not only the war but also the broader global landscape. 

In the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, policymakers and scholars from Africa, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia explored the dangers, as well as the new opportunities, that the war and the broader return of great-power conflict present for their countries and regions.

In this episode, you can listen to a May 4 conversation with Tim Murithi, Nirupama Rao, Matias Spektor, and Executive Editor Justin Vogt that was part of the Foreign Affairs’ event series. They discuss the issues most important to their regions, the mounting costs of the Ukraine war, and the effect of sharpening geopolitical tensions.

Sources:

“Order of Oppression” by Tim Murithi

“The Upside of Rivalry” by Nirupama Rao

“In Defense of the Fence Sitters” by Matias Spektor

“The Myth of Multipolarity” by Stephen G. Brooks and William C. Wohlforth

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The Foreign Affairs Interview is produced by Kate Brannen, Julia Fleming-Dresser, and Molly McAnany; original music by Robin Hilton. Special thanks to Grace Finlayson, Nora Revenaugh, Caitlin Joseph, Asher Ross, Gabrielle Sierra, and Markus Zakaria.