The Ukraine Crisis simply showed the world that the stand-off that came about as a result of the Cold War. For some time, things seemed to have normalised and tensions seemed to have calmed down, but the Ukrainian crisis and the Referendum of Crimea and it's eventual decision to join Russia unearthed old wounds and showed just how polarized and divided the world still is. The West on the one hand considers the 'actions of Russia' as unconstitutional and a violation of International Law. Russia on the other hand has blatantly denied having anything to do with the crisis in Ukraine. The result, a Russia under the weight of heavy sanctions, a russian president with about 70% approval rating.
The current situation has created a sort of East vs West scenario which is totally bad for global growth and co-operation. Here's how. First of all, at the United Nations Security Council, India and China refused to support a declaration of unilateral sanctions on Russia. It should come as no surprise, as both countries also have their own territorial disputes and they expect Russia to give them ir's support against their adversaries if it ever comes to that. India has has territorial diputes with Pakistan over the Kashmir region, while China on its part has a long list of territorial disputes out of which it would love to come out victorious, so it only makes sense that both India and China refused to support unilateral sanctions on Russia.
As if that wasn't enough, both Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution to impose sancrions on Syria, a decision which appalled not only the West, but also most of the rest of the world. The Sino-Russian partnership was formally cemented when Russia and China signed a $400bn gas deal which spans 30 years. It is true that the terms of this deal are bad for Russia, but there's no denying the fact that it gives Vladimir Putin and a sanction plagued Russia great leverage over a West which is increasingly 'disgusted' with Russia's actions on the international stage. To add to that, this deal has the potential to disrupt global energy markets vigorously.
That is the Eastern part of the story. The West on it's part has been beefing up its alliances too. This is seen in the Europe vist of US president Barack Obama. The US and its allies have since the Crimea crisis, sought to prove to Russia that it hasn't gone out of their control, and in doing so, have sought to get as many nations on their side as possible. It is no doubt, the US congress was quick to uplift the travel ban they had placed on Narendra Modi even though as the leader of India, he now has automatic travel immunity. Modi, now the Prime Minister of India was issued a travel ban during his time as Chief Minister of the indian state of Gujarat for failing to stop the slaughter of muslims by hindus.
This was seen by many as a sign of desperation, as the US needs a strong ally in Asia to counter the growing might of China.
If anything, the Ukraine crisis has deeply divided the world along geographical, political and ideological lines, and it remains to be seen how these divisions would affect the livelihoods of ordinary citizens.
No comments:
Post a Comment