In international politics, justice gives way to nations' self-interest
Greek historian Thucydides recorded in his2,000 years ago that when the citizens of Melos, an island in the Aegean Sea, wanted to argue the morality of the situation as their city was about to be sacked by Athenians, the Athenians replied that they did not want to waste time talking about morality and that “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”.
As we admire the bravery shown by Ukrainians defending their homeland, disgusted by the news of alleged war crimes in Bucha, north of Kyiv, and laugh at Putin spinning his military’s failure to take Kyiv by claiming the objective of the war had always been eastern Ukraine, I have grudgingly come to the position that when it comes to international politics, might is indeed right.
While most countries have called for dialogue and negotiations, democracies, including India and SA, abstained from the UN General Assembly vote on March 2 that demanded Russia withdraw from Ukraine. Despite Western countries’ diplomatic efforts, countries such as Brazil and Mexico have refused to participate in sanctions. Japan, Singapore and South Korea are the only Asian countries that have joined Western sanctions on Russia.
The biggest issue facing SA businesses is sanctions risk, where executives can run afoul of Western sanctions regulations against doing business with Russia. In the same way that Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE were punished by the US for doing business in Iran, SA businesses need to assess whether the US will target them if they continue to do business with Russia.
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