A poll released by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) on 22 February has revealed a growing chasm between western nations and the population of the Global South concerning the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

While most US, UK, and EU respondents said the war must be fueled until Ukraine “regains all its territory,” citizens in China, India, and Turkiye disagreed, saying they prefer a quick end to the war even if Ukraine has to concede territory.

Moreover, while the vast majority of those surveyed in the west described Russia as a “rival” or an active “adversary,” a large portion of Turkish, Chinese, and Indian citizens recognize Moscow as an “ally” or “necessary partner.”

The ECFR survey polled nearly 20,000 respondents across 15 countries.

Results also show that respondents in the Global South consider the emergence of a multipolar world order to be “more probable than a bipolar arrangement.”

“All in all, for 61 percent of people in Russia, 61 percent in China, 51 percent in Turkiye, and 48 percent in India, the future world order will be defined either by multipolarity or Chinese (or other non-western) dominance,” the ECFR concludes.

Even in the west, a majority of people agree that the US-led world order is on its last legs. However, western respondents expect a world dominated by two blocs led by the US and China.

Last September, the 14th Annual ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey showed that young Arabs favor their nations’ ties with Russia, Turkiye, and China over the US.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, a growing number of Global South nations have moved away from Washington’s sphere of influence, refusing to impose sanctions on Russia and even dumping the US dollar in bilateral trade with China.

This is compounded by the ever-shrinking presence of the greenback in foreign reserves worldwide, and the failure of western sanctions against nations deemed adversarial.

“Because they do not adhere to the policies of the US and other western powers, over 24 countries have been the target of unilateral or partial trade sanctions. These limitations, nevertheless, have turned out to be detrimental to the economies of the Group of Seven (G7) nations and have begun to impact the US dollar’s hegemony in world trade,” The Cradle columnist F.M. Shakil explained last month.

The rise of alternative economic blocs like BRICS or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is also challenging the hegemony of western currencies in international trade. On top of this, nations in Asia and Latin America have already put plans into motion to create new, joint currencies that can protect Global South economies against unilateral sanctions or lopsided trade agreements with western institutions.