The Grand Split

Abstract

The war in Ukraine is the culmination of the geo-economic and geopolitical struggle of the so-called Rest (non-Western countries) for political and civilizational divergence from the global universalization promoted by the collective West. It will have profound and long-term global political, economic, and institutional consequences for the New International Order. This paper argues that the Grand Split that is taking place today is, in fact, a non-peaceful breakdown of the current West-led international rules-based order. This is a war with the collective West that is taking place in Ukraine with differentiated support of some countries from the Rest. Ukraine is thus the epicenter of a larger conflict.