This week marks the first year of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The biggest war in Europe since World War II will continue as nobody knows when, or if ever, Russia or Ukraine will be defeated. Certainly, the US and Europe, or rather Nato are confident that more military hardware support to Kyiv is the only way to bleed Russia dry. Recent rhetoric from the West at the Munich Security Conference last week has already raised the spectre of a long war, perhaps short of a nuclear war. Obviously, that has the potential to drag other European nations into the conflict, which is already a proxy war. Belarus has allowed Russia to use its territory to wedge war against Ukraine. Even if the war ends -- it is a big if -- the dire repercussions will continue for generations.
Looking back, it is perhaps fortunate that the Russia-Ukraine conflict occurred at a time when Southeast Asia has been enjoying stability and prosperity despite the economic slowdown due to the three-year Covid-19 catastrophe. Under the umbrella of Asean, the grouping showed its diplomatic finesse in navigating the geopolitical tsunami brought about by Russian aggression and subsequent Western sanctions.
