This was a common refrain emerging from Usanas Foundation, Udaipur-based security and geopolitical think tank, organized round table conference (March 1), “Russia-Ukraine War and its Geopolitical Fallouts.” The conference’s goal was to share insights and analysis on the recent developments in eastern Europe vis-à-vis the Russia-Ukraine war.
In his opening remarks, Abhinav Pandya, Founder and CEO of Usanas foundation, highlighted that no one imagined that the Russia-Ukraine tensions would convert into a full-scale war. According to him, Russian aggression in Ukraine will have global repercussions and will also affect China’s behavior towards Taiwan and India. This is an early sign of the return of the Cold War in a world fast moving towards multipolarity, he mentioned.
Ovigwe Eguegu, a prominent geopolitical specialist with particular reference to Africa, mentioned two root causes of such military aggression. First, the eastward expansion of NATO. Second, the 2014 revolution created a Ukrainian regime inclined towards the US and EU, providing favorable ground for the eastward expansion of NATO. According to him, there is a lack of coherence in African countries’ foreign policy towards the Russian-Ukraine war. “They are also displaying a ‘weak state’ mentality,” he said.
According to Karsten Riise, Partner & Editor at Change News & Change Management, the rise of the right-wing section in Ukraine has been a significant concern for Russia, becoming one of the reasons for Russian aggression in Ukraine. He highlighted that as Ukraine lies at the crossroads between East and West, it needs to evolve as a country that accommodates diversity in a better way. He also explained how economic sanctions on Russia would impact all countries, including the West and the Asian continent.
Ararat Kostanian from the Institute of Oriental Studies at the National Academy of Science of Armenia said that the current world order has two groupings, the US and western countries, and upcoming powers like China, Russia and India. According to him, the upcoming powers are attempting to build a bipolar or a multipolar order which is being resisted by the US and its allies. He added that if the Russia-Ukraine war prolongs, it will negatively influence other border regions, such as Armenia and Turkey, which will side with Azerbaijan
Anna Borshchevskaya, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, iterated that Russia is responsible for this crisis and it is not a two-sided conflict and has entirely been initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to her, it is the biggest crisis facing global politics since the end of the Cold war era.
Anil Trigunayat, Former Ambassador of India Jordan, Libya and Malta, believes that although India has a very close strategic partnership with Russia, India’s relations with the West have also acquired a global strategic partnership in recent times. This makes it difficult for India to take sides, and thus, the feasible option with India is to balance its relations with both. He added that India has walked the tight rope by urging both sides to de-escalate and return to the path of deliberation. He also highlighted the dimension of Indian students in Ukraine, which remains the foremost interest of India in this conflict.
Alexey Kupriyanov, a prominent maritime historian and strategic expert from Russia, claimed that there will be an increased militarization of Europe in the future. He also argued that the European continent has been becoming disproportionately weak in recent years, and this trend will continue in the future as well.
In his concluding remarks, Pandya also highlighted the uneasiness and distrust in India-US relations, which surfaced during the Afghanistan crisis, and will also have a bearing on this current crisis.
For all the latest world News Click Here
