My Take | How to turn the war in Ukraine into a worldwide powder keg
- West’s globalisation of conflict has inextricably linked it to two of the most dangerous flashpoints – the Taiwan Strait and Korean peninsula
Localise, de-escalate, contain. Or do the opposite, let it blow out of all proportion and make it the world’s problem. That’s Ukraine, and the disastrous Western policy response so far. Now, everyone is involved, everyone is worse off.
The Russian invasion is a criminal, brutal act. That’s why most of the world condemned it. But it’s also mostly a European, at least, a Western alliance problem. The richest and most powerful countries and their military alliance surely have the resources to deal with it. But no, they have to drag everyone into it.
That’s why few countries outside the Western alliance have been willing to take part in Western sanctions against Russia. They have enough problems on their own plates, created in no small part by Western sanctions against Russia.
To paraphrase Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the West thinks its problems are the world’s problems, but the world’s problems are not necessarily its problems.
Now, North Korea and Russia have been drawn together effectively as a military partnership, if not an alliance. Until recently, their relationship was lukewarm at best. That’s a dangerous escalation in the already tense Korean peninsula. But when Western punditry, politicians and the White House cry foul, people just roll their eyes. Who forced them together?
Their partnership was precisely the outcome some South Korean security analysts had warned when the United States pressured Seoul to contribute weapons to Ukraine.