In 1917 and 1918, respectively, both Lenin and President Wilson called for peace over the heads of European leaders mired in the First World War. [1] As Asia and Africa subsequently revolted against European imperialism, they were – each in their own way - encouraged to do so by the Soviet Union and the United States, considered rival superpowers until 1991.
A little
more than a century following the mud of the trenches, war in Ukraine has today
become something of a proxy in the struggle between Russia and the United
States, while both Xi of China and Modi of India avoid significantly arming the
conflict, or so it seems. What does this
portend for the future of Europe? Will
China and India gain in global authority by virtue of their non-involvement –
and size? Certainly their demographic advantage in terms of growing domestic markets will be hard to challenge in years to come, so maybe NATO should be leery
of continuing to push Russia out of “Europe” and into “Asia”, in other words closer
to China and India....
[1] Frank Field, Three French Writers & the Great War: Barbusse, Drieu La Rochelle,
Bernanos. Studies in the Rise of Communism and Fascism (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2008) p. 95.
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