Russia's push for a multipolar world is reshaping geopolitics in Africa
A new study finds Russia is capitalizing on anti-Western sentiment across the Global South to build a competing power bloc, framing sovereignty and independence as alternatives to liberal international order. The strategy is gaining traction in the Sahel and West Africa, signaling a fundamental realignment that could reshape trade, investment, and diplomatic relationships for decades.
Originaltitel: A new global independence movement: Russia, multipolarity and the global south
This article analyses the articulation of a new global independence movement and Russia’s promotion thereof for building a multipolar world order. It analyses a new identity in Russian foreign policy since 2022 emphasizing commonalities with the global South. The new ‘opportunity structure’ provides momentum for a new global independence movement across the South as illustrated in recent developments in the Sahel and Western Africa. Further, such a ‘sovereignty-movement’, while often labelled conservative, has a deep-rooted history with a radical strain. The article further analyses the conflict between liberal internationalism and nationalism, in terms of a deep-rooted tension between competing theories of freedom with roots in European intellectual history and political thought, articulated as republican versus liberal theories of freedom. The former, while associated with conservatism, has recurred as a radical explosive strain at various times in history and is today again mobilized against liberal internationalism.