Wider world does not uniformly adhere to the Western view of ‘justice’

RUSSIA is discovering that its move away from the West is finding approval, even if some of the Global Majority may be wondering why it took so long Military and political tensions in Europe have long been a catalyst for profound change in the structure of world politics and economics. And, of course, they have often altered Russia’s place in the world.

While the signs of the former have been evident for at least a few years, the latter is now clearly visible. Last month’s annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Moscow clearly illustrated this trend and raised important questions.

Many in Russia have long spoken of the need to move away from the Western-centric view of the world which has been inherent in our political consciousness for centuries.

It is not a question of sympathies or antipathies, but of understanding changes in the world order: One cannot take a residual view of a vast part of the world where, as is now commonly said, the Global Majority live and where the most intensive development is taking place.

No one argues against this, but it is difficult to overcome the deep-rooted tradition of evaluating our own actions through the prism of relations with the West. The events of 2022 forced this to be done in emergency mode - the West itself took the initiative.

The Valdai event was revealing in this regard, as there was renewal in the very participants themselves.

The usual guests from Western Europe and the US did not come for the most part - some for reasons of principle, while others were not allowed to attend by their employers.

Thus, the audience provided an opportunity to assess a representative cross-section of the Global Majority, and their attitudes and demands.

To start with the obvious: The non-Western world can be said to look sympathetically at Russia’s attempt to break the system of Western domination of the international arena. Attitudes to the military operation in Ukraine ranged from understanding the reasons to regretting the humanitarian cost, but there was virtually no condemnation — much less calls for punishment — for Russia challenging the West. And the reason for this is not approval of the actions in Ukraine, but precisely because the inhabitants of the former Third World consider it right, and historically just, to oppose former colonial overlords.

In other words, the accumulated irritation with the West, in this case, manifests itself in a firm refusal to follow Western attitudes.

And so, it follows that an uncharted path emerges. Russia now speaks of the need for a world order in which all states are free to realise their cultural and national particularities. Without standards being imposed from the outside.

This idea has found enthusiastic approval. In Asia, Africa, and Latin America, the sense of injustice — which they believe permeates the entire Western-led world system — has long been at the heart of their views. That Russia has also come around to this way of thinking is welcomed, but it is perceived not as the founder of the trend, but rather as a newcomer who joined in after wandering.

Of course, the Soviet past helps; the world remembers the role the USSR played in decolonisation. But there is also an understanding that modern Russia is not the Soviet Union, but instead a country with a much more diverse identity.

And justice is not a universal concept; its interpretation is, again, a product of each community’s culture.