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The perspective of the Global South: another interpretation of war
While the West rallied behind Ukraine, much of the world adopted a more ambiguous stance. India, Brazil, South Africa, and most of Africa and Asia refused to follow suit with sanctions.
This refusal was not an endorsement of the war. It was a strategic reading. In the finance ministries of the Global South, one question stood out:“ If Russia’ s reserves can be frozen overnight, what about ours?”
For these countries, the war in Ukraine revealed a brutal truth: the global economic order is not universal, it is conditional. Participation in global trade depends on implicit political alignment. For states that have experienced colonialism, sanctions, and embargoes, this reality is anything but theoretical.
Flashmag! Edition 168 Janvier 2026
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