Russia-Ukraine War and the Global South’s Sovereignty Paradox

Raj Verma is Professor of International Relations and Foreign Policy and Director, Center for South and Central Asia at Shanghai International Studies University, and a Non-Resident Scholar at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, USA. He is the editor/co-editor of seven special issues/sections and author of more than 40 articles published in journals. His research is focused on India’s and China’s foreign and security policy, Sino–India–US-Russia-Pakistan relations, Asian security issues, emerging world order and International Relations theory.

• Introduction 1. The “sovereignty paradox” in China’s response to the Russia-Ukraine war 2. Interests trump principles and values: India’s neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war 3. Brazil’s position in the Russia-Ukraine war: balancing principled pragmatism while countering weaponized interdependence 4. Ukraine, the 2023 BRICS Summit and South Africa’s non-alignment crisis 5. Indonesia’s ambivalence in the Russia-Ukraine war: balancing equal sovereignty norms with a familial approach 6. Pakistan’s neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war: navigating great power politics 7. No dog in this fight: interrogating Ethiopia’s calculated neutrality towards the Russia-Ukraine war 8. Saudi Arabia’s ambivalent stance on the Russia-Ukraine war: balancing regime stability and equal sovereignty 9. National security outweighs norms and principles: Egypt’s foreign policy towards the Russia-Ukraine war