General public newspaper Washington Post published a column that claims that the West’s attempt to isolate Russia has failed and that, instead, we are witnessing a growing global divide where the global south stands on one side and Europe and the states United/Canada stand apart.
Clement Manyathela, who hosts a popular and influential talk show on South African radio 702, remembers the outrage he felt when Russian troops stormed into Ukraine. He had believed Russia’s insistence that it was not planning to attack, and had felt cheated when war broke out.
“We were lied to,” he said. But as the fighting continued, he and many listeners to his show began asking questions: Why had President Vladimir Putin found it necessary to invade? Did NATO stoke the fire by sending so many weapons to Ukraine? How could the United States expect others around the world to support its policies when it had also invaded countries?
“When the United States entered Iraq, when the United States entered Libya, they had their own reasons which we did not believe, and now they are trying to turn the world against Russia. This is also unacceptable, Manyathela said “I still don’t see any justification for invading any country, but you can’t tell us what we should think about Russia invading Ukraine. I honestly think the United States tried to intimidate us.
“The West is a hypocrite”
WP further writes:
Conversations with people in South Africa, Kenya and India suggest a deeply ambivalent view of the conflict, inspired less by whether Russia was wrong to invade than by current and historic grievances against the West. – on colonialism, perceptions of Western arrogance and incompetence. to use as many resources to resolve conflicts and human rights violations in other parts of the world, such as the Palestinian territories, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Western countries “are being hypocritical,” said Bhaskar Dutta, an employee in Kolkata, India. “These people colonized the whole world. What Russia has done cannot be tolerated, but at the same time you cannot blame them completely. »
US officials point out that 141 out of 193 countries voted at the UN to condemn Russia after the invasion; the same number on Thursday approved an almost identical resolution on the eve of the anniversary. But only 33 countries have imposed sanctions on Russia, and a similar number are sending lethal aid to Ukraine. A survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit last year estimated that two-thirds of the world’s population live in countries that have refrained from condemning Russia.
