Dear CCI friends,
One of our new CCI Board Members, Krishen Mehta, has written an amazing analysis of the rise of the “Global South.” It is rapidly shifting our planet’s power politics. A Multipolar world is replacing the former Unipolar hemisphere in which we in the United States have been the sole lead nation. How will this affect us? Your thoughts will be greatly appreciated by our new CCI Board.
Sharon Tennison
Paula Day
Sylvia Demarest
Pamela Tetarenko
Krishen Mehta
American Committee for US-Russia Accord
ACURA ViewPoint: Krishen Mehta:The Ukraine War viewed from the Global South
By Krishen Mehta
February 22, 2023
In October 2022, about eight months after the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the University of Cambridge in the UK harmonized surveys that asked the inhabitants of 137 countries about their views of the West, Russia, and China. The findings in the combined study are robust enough to demand our serious attention.
- Of the 6.3 billion people who live outside of the West, 66% feel positively towards Russia, and 70% feel positively towards China.
- 75% of respondents in South Asia, 68% of respondents in Francophone Africa, and 62% of respondents in Southeast Asia report feeling positively toward Russia.
- Public opinion of Russia remains positive in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam.
These findings have caused some surprise and even anger in the West. It’s difficult for Western thought leaders to comprehend that two-thirds of the world’s population is just not lining up with the West in this conflict. However, I believe there are five reasons why the Global South is not taking the West’s side. I discuss these reasons in the short essay below.