Source: The Hindu
- Prelims: Current events of international importance, decolonisation, NATO, etc.
- Mains GS Paper II: Significance of European countries for India, Bilateral, regional and global grouping and agreements involving India or affecting India’s interests, NATO
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- Decolonisation, the emergence of the United States as the western world’s sole superpower, and the rise of the rest dramatically diminished the centuries old domination of the European States and their ability to shape the world in their own image.
- The contemporary international order is hardly Eurocentric: dominated by the U.S., and challenged by rising great powers or superpowers, it is moving toward a multipolar order wherein Europe’s system shaping capabilities have been rather limited.
INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE
Context
Eurocentrism(Eurocentricity or Western-centrism):
- It is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations.
- The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western world to just the continent of Europe or even more narrowly, to Western Europe (especially during the Cold War).
Background:
- The term “Eurocentrism” dates back to the late 1970s but it did not become prevalent until the 1990s, when it was frequently applied in the context of decolonisation and development and humanitarian aid that industrialized countries offered to developing countries.
- The term has since been used to critique Western narratives of progress, Western scholars who have downplayed and ignored non-Western contributions, and to contrast Western epistemologies with Indigenous ways of knowing.
What is the Conflict?
- Contestation about post-Cold War central European territoriality and resurrecting a burnished Russian past is at the core of the Ukraine crisis.
- Ukraine and Russia share hundreds of years of cultural, linguistic and familial links.
- For many in Russia and in the ethnically Russian parts of Ukraine, the shared heritage of the countries is an emotional issue that has been exploited for electoral and military purposes.
- As part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was the second-most powerful Soviet republic after Russia, and was crucial strategically, economically and culturally.
- The balance of power in the region, Ukraine being a crucial buffer between Russia and the West, Ukraine’s bid for NATO membership and Russian interests in the Black Sea accompanied by the protests in the Ukraine are the major causes of the ongoing conflict.
Current Scenario:
- The conflict is now the largest attack by one state on another in Europe since the Second World War, and the first since the Balkan conflict in the 1990s.
- With the invasion of Ukraine, agreements like the Minsk Protocols of 2014, and the Russia-NATO Act of 1997 stand all but voided.
- The G7 nations strongly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- G20 foreign ministers called for an end to the war and grain blockade in Ukraine.
- Sanctions have been imposed by the S., the European Union (EU), the UK, Australia, Canada and Japan.
- China rejected calling Russia’s moves on Ukraine an “invasion” and urged all sides to exercise restraint.
- India did not join the Western powers’ condemnation of Russia’s intervention in Crimea and kept a low profile on the issue.
- More recently, India abstained on a US-sponsored UNSC resolution that “deplores in the strongest terms” Russia’s “aggression” against Ukraine, with India saying dialogue is the only answer to settling differences and disputes and voicing “regret” that the path of diplomacy was given up.
- China too abstained, along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Impact of Ukraine war on Europe:
- Tilting the current global balance: The political and military aftermath of Russia’s war on Ukraine Could potentially tilt the current global balance and take us back to Eurocentric world order, albeit far less powerful and dominating than its earlier avatars.
- Major locus of trans-Atlantic security: If Donald Trump returns to the White House in 2024, the Europeans are likely to take their own security far more seriously. In any case, Europe might emerge as a major locus of trans-Atlantic security imagination.
- Disinterested US: The United States, fatigued from the Iraq and Afghan wars, does not appear to be keen on another round of wars and military engagements.
- Shift from pacifism to militarism: In Europe, there is a shift in narrative from pacifism to insecurity induced militarism, which could shape the international system.
- Renewal of NATO and EU: A pervasive sense of “existential insecurity” has brought about a renewed enthusiasm about the future of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
- The European Union (EU) Commissionin Brussels has backed Ukraine’s bid for EU candidature, and the 30 state military alliance, NATO, has two more members in its fold (Finland and Sweden).
- Increased spending on defense: Germany has decided to spend an additional €100 billion for defense over and above its €50 billion annual expenditure on defense.
- It is set to announce a new national security strategy early next year, and the hope of ‘changing Russia through trade’ is no longer popular amongst most German policymakers and thinkers.
Impact on institutions:
- Little faith in UNSC or UN: There appears little faith in the United Nations or the UN Security Council anymore, they have decided to put their faith in a revitalized EU and NATO.
- Threat to globalization: European states are deeply worried about globalization induced vulnerability and this has set in to think about the inherent problems of indiscriminate globalization.
- Rise of military power: The combined effect of European remilitarisation, its loss of faith in multilateral institutions and the increased salience of the EU and NATO will be the unchecked emergence of Europe as an even stronger regulatory, norm/standard setting superpower backed with military power.
- Unilateral adoption of instruments: The EU already has a worryingly disproportionate ability to set standards for the rest of the world. Instruments such as the Digital Services Act and the Digital Assets Act or its human rights standards will be unilaterally adopted and will be unavoidable by other parts of the world.
- Using non democratic process: There is an irrefutable ethical problem in a democratic Europe using nondemocratic processes to adopt seemingly progressive measures for the rest of the world.
Implications for the world:
- Eurocentric world: Receding multilateralism and rising Eurocentrism would invariably mean that norm setting and system shaping discussions are likely to be “conducted by Europeans, among Europeans, for Europeans and non Europeans”, leading to fewer consultations and even lesser consensus with the rest of the international community.
- Pseudo global order: Europe will seek partners around the world to create a Eurocentric World order, not a truly global world order.
- Countering China: This unilateral attempt to shape the world in its image will also be portrayed as an attempt to counter Chinese attempts at global domination.
- Political dilemma for India: When presented as such, countries such as India will face a clear dilemma: to politically and normatively oppose the setting of the global agenda by Europeans or to be practical about it and jump on the European Bandwagon.
Way Forward
- Inherent Eurocentric view of the European nations: The lack of interest in other parts of the world about the Russian aggression in Europe, and the consequent unease about the lack of empathy from the rest of the world, is indicative of the inherent Eurocentric view of the European nations about the world.
- Reviving Minsk Peace Process: A practical solution for the situation is to revive the Minsk peace process.
- Therefore, the West (US and Other western Countries) should push both sides to resume talks and live up to their commitments as per the Minsk agreement to restore relative peace on the border.
- A Balanced Approach: India-Russia ties have ensured that India has not been entirely left out of the conversation on Afghanistan, and in Central Asia, while also providing some leverage with the US.
- At the same time, the US, the EU, and UK are all vital partners, and India’s relations with each of them, and the Western world in general, go far beyond the sum of their parts.
- India must talk continually to all sides, and engage with all of its partners, keeping in mind that there is no justification for the violation of any country’s territorial sovereignty.
- India must also make it clear to coercing countries that their “with us or against us” formulations are hardly constructive.
QUESTION FOR PRACTICE
- The newly tri-nation partnership AUKUS is aimed at countering China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. Is it going to supersede the existing partnerships in the region? Discuss the strength and impact of AUKUS in the present scenario(UPSC 2021)
(200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)
- The political and military aftermath of the Ukraine conflict could set the stage for the return of a Eurocentric world order. Critically analyze.
(200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)
