Przegląd sytuacji międzynarodowej: aspekty globalne i regionalne

The chapter emphasises the changes taking place in international life as a result of two local wars which are producing global ramifications. The Russian aggression against Ukraine is sending deep shockwaves across the whole Euro-Atlantic area. Besides that, a number of the Global South countries are getting involved in this conflict, either helping Russia politically (China), sending her weapons (North Korea, Iran), or making commercial deals which help the Russian economy to survive Western sanctions. The asymmetric war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza pushed the Middle East to the brink of a regional war. It has also undermined the process of normalization of relations between Israel and some Arab countries. Israel’s brutal military operation (more than 30 000 deaths by the end of February) as a response to Hamas’ bloody attack on 7 October provoked strong, both anti-Israeli and anti-Western, reactions in the countries of the Global South. Joe Biden’s Administration came under strong criticism at home for its support to Ukraine and Israel, which may make it more difficult for the current president to win his re-election this November. It should be stressed, however, that Western consolidation against the Russian aggression is impressive. At the same time, the West has turned out to be unable to deliver to Ukraine as much weaponry and munitions as it needed to face Russian military pressure. The failure of the Ukrainian summer counter-offensive had a negative political impact in the West as well. In general, throughout the 2023 the world saw a significant deterioration of the political climate and a rise of more and more unfriendly attitudes both within the big powers globally and in regular countries at the regional level.