Africans Are Already Feeling the Impact of the War in Ukraine

Africans Are Already Feeling the Impact of the War in Ukraine
African residents in Ukraine wait at the platform inside Lviv railway station, Lviv, Ukraine, Feb. 27, 2022 (AP photo by Bernat Armangue).

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last Thursday, major developments that will reshape global politics both immediately and for years to come have rapidly unfolded one after the other. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany would boost its defense spending this year by $113 billion and meet NATO’s target of 2 percent of GDP in the future. The U.S. and European Union announced a new round of sanctions against Russia that has sent the ruble crashing. And the EU announced that its member states will grant Ukrainians fleeing the war the right to stay and work in the bloc for up to three years.

For many Africans, meanwhile, the war and its second- and third-order consequences serve as a grim reminder of the continent’s marginal place within the international system. But they also represent the hardening of an order historically designed and constructed to exclude Africans from the seat of global decision-making, while imposing on them hegemonic structures, decisions and outcomes they can neither contest nor avoid.

In an interconnected world already reeling from the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a tremor in one part of the planet often causes ripples and at times tsunamis in distant locations. As is true for virtually the entire world today, the conflict in Ukraine is already casting a long shadow across Africa and its diaspora.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article as well as three free articles per month. You'll also receive our free email newsletter to stay up to date on all our coverage:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having your own personal researcher and analyst for news and events around the globe. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of 15,000+ articles
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday
  • Weekly in-depth reports on important issues and countries
  • Daily links to must-read news, analysis, and opinion from top sources around the globe, curated by our keen-eyed team of editors
  • Your choice of weekly region-specific newsletters, delivered to your inbox.
  • Smartphone- and tablet-friendly website.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review