Engelsberg Ideas, 20 December, Tim Less
The West’s hegemonic position faces a growing challenge from an emerging coalition in the East which seeks to revise the international order in its own interests. To preserve its position, the West must take decisive action. Whether it has the will to do so is unclear.
There can no longer be much doubt about the threat to the position of the West. After 18 months of struggle, Russia looks poised for a historic victory in Ukraine whose quest to join the Western sphere is now seemingly at an end.
Not only has Russia practically annexed a fifth of the country’s territory, which now lies behind one of the most heavily-fortified frontiers in the world, but the prospect of the rest of Ukraine remaining in a state of permanent instability precludes any chance of its integration with NATO and the EU, at least as matters stand.
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