The Ukraine war in a multi-polar world

What started as a crisis in two Russian-speaking Ukrainian provinces now has global implications. US influence is diminishing as new power blocs emerge, and sanctions against Russia are not followed by many countries. New economic and political interests are creating history in the Arab world and on every continent.

The Ukrainian war is changing European history as well as global political relations. All wars have unintended consequences, which may include resolving injustices that have been 'stable' for decades and creating new ones. The soft power of the West is diminishing.

The Prisma spoke to Professor Catia Miriam Costa from the International Studies Centre in Lisbon about the shocks provoked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and how even countries as far away as Latin America are now carefully readjusting their policies. She believes that the US will continue to be the global super-power for some time yet, but it has to deal with regional power blocs that did not exist even 20 years ago, and the Cold War polarity between Capitalist and Communist countries is obsolete.

For the moment, the crisis has brought European countries together, but they do not have a regional security policy. They are still dependent on Russia for gas, and sanctions are not in the interests of many countries in Africa or Asia. The rich countries of the Arab world will profit from the transition to clean energy, but in many North African countries poverty and inequality may be worsened by the loss of Ukrainian cereal exports.

This interview was first published in The Prisma Multicultural Newspaper in April 2022 and can be read in full with links and images, here: https://theprisma.co.uk/2022/04/25/catia-costa-the-ukraine-war-in-a-multi-polar-world/