The Russia-Ukraine war and the Global South’s sovereignty paradox

Abstract

ABSTRACT This contribution introduces a special forum on the Global South’s sovereignty paradox in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war. It argues that it is paradoxical that countries which developed the equal sovereignty norm are unwilling to publicly criticize Russia for infringing on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It further highlights the Global South’s duplicity because this group of countries has been extremely critical of the West for violating the United Nations Charter, international law and compromising on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries in the Global South. The forum exames nine countries from the Global South. It illustrates that “cherry picking” is the norm that states have adopted in employing the concept of sovereignty and this is likely to continue in the future.