Balancing geopolitical interests

ON March 27, 2014, after the Russian annexation of Crimea, Malaysia voted in favour of UN General Assembly Resolution 68/262 supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine. It was surreal: a year before, I was in Yalta visiting the site of the conference which shaped the peace after World War II. On March 2, 2022, Malaysia voted for UN General Assembly Resolution ES-11/1 which “deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine; and demands it immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces”.

This was the view of most of the world, including around half of our fellow members of the OIC, and our Asean neighbours except Laos and Vietnam (although Myanmar’s UN Ambassador doesn’t speak for its rulers). The rest abstained; only Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea joined Russia in voting against the resolution. Despite its strong wording, in reality many countries are still balancing competing geopolitical interests by issuing softer bilateral statements.