Gabor Horvath: There is no organizational structure or even a tight alliance that can be called a collective West
05.07.2024
Gabor Horvath
Since recently, we have often heard the expression «collective West». What kind of a beast is this? Does it exist? Gabor Horvath, deputy editor-in-chief of the Hungarian newspaper Népszava, shared his opinion with the Newssky correspondent.
Maria Zakharova (spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia) is primarily scaring Russian citizens with a collective West, something like an atomic bomb, right?
The expression «collective West» has been in use for quite some time in Russian nationalist circles. As much as it can be known, some fringe publications and the extremist Tsargrad TV were the first to spread the concept. Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zaharova picked it up about a decade ago. President Putin first mentioned it only in 2021, using the phrase «so-called collective West». Since then, it has become a household term in Russian politics and media, referring to the enormity of the foreign adversaries facing Russia. If taken at face value, it approximately means 50 or so countries out of these that took part in the recent Geneva peace conference called by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
What would you say about the unity between these countries?
Now, the question is, how unified are these countries in their commitment to resist Russian aggression in Europe? To start with, Hungary, a member of NATO and the EU, took part in the Geneva Conference, but its efforts were mainly focused on blocking effective action of these organizations about Russia and the war. So it is to be decided if it’s part of the collective West or not.
The same is true, at least partially, about Turkey, another member of NATO trying to stay aside from the conflict and to keep open channels of trade and communication towards Moscow.
On the other hand, the Asian nations of South Korea and Japan are surely part of the collective West, at least politically if not geographically. As we can see, the term is applied rather arbitrarily to any «enemy» of Russia supporting Ukraine’s struggle for independence.
These approximately 50 countries very much differ in the nature and level of their participation in the joint effort. Some of Ukraine’s neighbors feel the existential threat of a possible Russian invasion, while others look at an even bigger picture and defend democracy from the authoritarian threat.
Are there any global associations of states, apart from, such as NATO?
There is no organizational structure or even a closely knit alliance that could be called a collective West, just like there is no counter position in the «collective South». Russia, China, India, and some other countries might pursue common goals in trade or some aspects of geopolitics while being competitors or even adversaries in other matters of world politics. They are not even unified in their approach towards the United States – just like countries of the so-called collective West are far from being «collective» in their Russia policies. The juxtaposition is artificial and blown out of proportion.
For what purpose does Putin emphasize the existence of the «collective West»?
At the same time, there is no denial to the fact that the concept is catchy and easy to use to mislead not very sophisticated audiences. It’s spread everywhere now, infiltrating the mainstream Western media. By using it, Putin tries to give ideological cover and some global sense to Russia’s imperialistic war, at the same time deflecting the responsibility for starting the bloodshed.
Maryna Kovalchuk, Newssky’s correspondent (Europe and Canada), head of the V5 Media project, and deputy editor-in-chief, contributed.
