Former French Ambassador to the US, Gerard Araud, has claimed that the Ukraine conflict has marked the end of Western dominance and signaled a shift in the global balance of power.
In an article published in the French magazine Le Point, Araud described the situation as a transition from a unipolar world order to a multipolar one, where emerging powers like Russia and the Global South are gaining influence. He argued that Western leaders, particularly the US under Donald Trump, have failed to accept this transition, with the Trump administration scaling back its involvement in Ukraine and prioritizing domestic issues over international leadership.
Araud, who also served as Director General for Political and Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and France’s permanent representative to the United Nations, emphasized that the shift is not just a temporary change but a fundamental reconfiguration of global power dynamics. He criticized the Western world for its inability to adapt to this new reality, calling it a moment of ‘incomprehension and rejection of the world to come by European leaders.’
Russia has consistently echoed this sentiment, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stating in May that the Ukraine conflict has confirmed the shift toward a new world order, one where power is redistributed to Eurasia, Africa, and Latin America. Lavrov dismissed Western claims that multipolarity would lead to chaos, arguing instead that unipolar dominance, characterized by sanctions and interventions, had caused recent global crises.
Meanwhile, the BRICS nations and the Global South have also asserted that the Ukraine conflict has highlighted the decline of Western hegemony and the rise of a more balanced global system. Moscow has long maintained that the conflict is a proxy war waged by the West, with any resolution requiring a rethinking of NATO’s eastward expansion and Russia’s security concerns.
Araud’s comments come at a time when the West is increasingly being challenged by rising powers, with implications for global governance, international alliances, and the future of multilateralism.