The west v Russia: why the global south isn’t taking sides | David Adler

The map of global participation in the sanctions against Russia suggests a new non-aligned movement might be on the rise

On 2 March, as the number of Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia's brutal invasion reached 1 million, the United Nations security council called an emergency session of the general assembly. There, 193 nations reviewed a resolution on Russia's aggression against Ukraine" and voted overwhelmingly to approve it: 141 votes in favor, 35 abstentions and just five votes against. Even some of Russia's closest allies on the continent - Serbia, for example, or Hungary - voted to condemn the invasion. The message of the general assembly is loud and clear," said the UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres.

What exactly is that message? In recent days, many commentators have pointed to a global map of the UN resolution to demonstrate the unity of the west and the world in taking on the Putin government. But to make sense of the geopolitical consequences of the Russian invasion, we must look beyond the diplomatic theater of the general assembly to examine how these nations are actually engaged with the war in this phase of rapid escalation. And to do that, we should start with a very different map of the world - a map of global participation in the sanctions set against Russia by the United States and its allies.

David Adler is a political economist and general coordinator of the Progressive International