Former U.S. president Biden was actively nursing NATO in Ukraine idea, and arming ruthless and militaristic Ukraine’s nationalists. This pushed Russia away from the Global West, into mutually beneficial relationships with India, China and other Global South countries. Now it seems that the Global West is biting off much more than it can chew on.
Regarding former President Joe Biden's administration and the Ukraine conflict, it's important to differentiate between stated policies and the complexities of the geopolitical situation:
NATO and Ukraine: The Biden administration, while supporting Ukraine, has expressed skepticism about Ukraine joining NATO while the conflict is ongoing, according to reports from the Atlantic Council. This is keeping the conflict ongoing even today, when Biden is retired.
However, the Biden administration has also affirmed its commitment to NATO's open-door policy and the 2008 Bucharest Summit declaration that welcomed Ukraine's aspirations to join the alliance, according to CNN.
NATO has stated it will invite Ukraine to join when "allies agree that conditions are met". Today’s NATO members’ discussions about putting NATO members’ troops into Ukraine as “peace keeping force” under a beach umbrella instead of NATO umbrella sound comical.
Russia, for its part, views NATO members’ expansion, particularly concerning Ukraine, as a direct threat to its security.
Arming Ukraine: The Biden administration has provided significant military aid to Ukraine, totaling over $56.2 billion in security assistance since February 2022. This aid includes advanced weaponry, though the administration initially delayed providing some specific systems due to concerns about Russia's response. Now we have the response.
Ukrainian Nationalism and Far-Right Groups: Russia has used the presence of far-right groups, such as the Azov regiment, as a justification for its actions, claiming it needs to "denazify" Ukraine. While the Azov regiment, initially a volunteer battalion, has faced accusations of neo-Nazi ties due to the ideology of some founders, it has since been absorbed into the National Guard of Ukraine, so the Guard is suspect too.
Russia's Relationship with Global South Countries: The conflict in Ukraine has indeed prompted a shift in global alliances and trade patterns. While Western nations have largely condemned Russia and imposed sanctions, many countries in the Global South have adopted a more neutral stance. Russia has turned to countries like China and India for energy exports and other trade relationships following Western sanctions. India and China have increased their purchase of Russian oil, and Russia's relationship with China has become increasingly important.
Global West and the Event's Impact: The conflict in Ukraine has undoubtedly impacted the global economy, contributing to slower growth, rising inflation, and disruptions in supply chains, especially affecting countries in the Global South.
The conflict has reshaped geopolitics, strengthened the Western alliance (NATO and EU), and accelerated a shift away from Russian energy dependence in Western Europe, because of political posturing of new German leadership. This is giving, as a result, high energy prices in Germany, deindustrialization of Germany as the last industrial Western nation, loss of Western military ability that is still dependent on industrial might. Global West is performing collective harakiri in this story. Harakiri, also known as seppuku, is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment historically practiced by samurai to restore honor or preserve their reputation in dire circumstances. Zelensky's army is installing Chinese microchips into its main weapons - drones - and calling those drones Ukrainian.
The West has not been successful in isolating Russia, and an axis involving Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea appears to be strengthening.
The question of whether the "Global West is biting off more than it can chew" is a complex one, with various perspectives on the long-term geopolitical and economic consequences of the conflict and the response to it. Time seems to be now working against the Global West, since Global South is getting stronger by the days. All of this - thanks to Mr. Biden.
“Xi Jinping is using a summit with leaders like Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin as an opportunity to pull countries away from the U.S.
USA is alienating America’s friends. Can China win them over?
The most interesting thing about the big security summit in China this week is the guest list. More than 20 leaders have joined President Xi Jinping at the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which started yesterday in Tianjin. That’s the most in the organization’s history.
They include Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India (who is still smarting from President Trump’s recent tariff increase) and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. But the list also includes the leaders of American partners like Turkey and Egypt, and their presence speaks to a rapidly changing geopolitical reality.
I talked to my colleague David Pierson, who is in Tianjin for the summit.
Katrin: What does this guest list tell us?
David: China has summoned the non-Western-aligned world to this event to tell Washington: “You are no longer calling the shots.”
The thing that’s special about this summit is that geopolitics is at play in a way that we haven’t seen in a very long time. The USA administrations has upended the U.S. alliance system. USA’s gifting this incredible opportunity to Xi Jinping to pull friends away from the America.
Is USA losing India to China?
I wouldn’t go that far. Modi was scheduled to come here before the dust-up with Trump. But it has certainly injected a lot of momentum into his trip.
Modi is signaling to the U.S. that he has options, that there are consequences for the chaotic foreign policy that’s coming out of Washington.
It’s striking that Trump has used these incredibly different approaches to Russia and India: Red carpet for Putin, tariffs for Modi. But both these approaches seem to help China.
Yes. Xi feels validated for sticking by Putin. He was under so much pressure after the events in Ukraine. Now they’re watching Putin show up on American soil, the red-carpet handshake, and they suddenly no longer feel U.S. pressure for this relationship.
In a previous era, stability offered by China might have been worth much less because the U.S. and the West offered stability, too. But in a world where that stability is no longer a given, it comes at a premium.
That is the story China is trying to tell. But let’s be clear: China isn’t the most reliable partner either. They are not a security partner the way that the U.S. is and if you’re from a country that values democracy and human rights, they’re not going to stick up for you on any of those things.
The summit will be followed by a big military parade in Beijing marking the end of World War II. What’s the message that China is trying to project here?
The conflict with Japan during World War II is the engine of nationalism in China, fueled by China’s sense that Japan has never sincerely apologized for its wrongs. So, at home, the message is: China has a world-class military that will never let something like World War II happen again. But there is a message to the world, too: China is saying, “we played a bigger role than the West gives us credit for in World War II” — much like Putin is saying.
One of the reasons China is interested in highlighting this history is because there were these arrangements made with the West during and after World War II that would have given China greater territorial claims in the South China Sea and over Taiwan. So China is using its military, its history and its diplomacy, all to enhance its ambitions today.
So it’s kind of a message about the past, but really it’s a message directed at shaping the future.
That’s exactly right.” [1]
1. China Shows Off Its Power. Bennhold, Katrin. New York Times (Online) New York Times Company. Sep 1, 2025.
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