Palestine and Ukraine are unfolding in very different paradigms

Do Western countries respond to Israeli aggression the same way they react to Russian aggression? Was the Russian invasion of Ukraine really unprovoked? Did the Israel-Palestine conflict begin on Oct 7th, 2023? Is NATO partly about expanding and protecting the unipolar, US-led global hegemony? How do NATO members view the roles of Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Palestine in the context of the US-led, unipolar global hegemon? Which presents the greater threat to Europe's relevance on the world stage: the US abandonment of the rules-based global world order, or Russia? Is the US still the only global superpower, or has the world become multipolar?

These are but a few of the questions I’ve been grappling with.

In an effort to understand the conflicting narratives and power dynamics, I went in search of answers. The two conflicts that have been dominating the headlines over the last few years are the conflicts in Palestine and Ukraine. Both conflicts deal with illegal invasions and occupations of another’s territory. Yet the Western media coverage of these two conflicts frames them very differently. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is framed as a clear-cut case of an unprovoked invasion by a powerful aggressor against a sovereign, democratic nation. Israel’s occupation and genocide in Gaza is often described as more nuanced or "balanced," sometimes presenting it as a complex "conflict" between two equal sides rather than a clear case of occupation or aggression, which has drawn criticism from those who argue it downplays Palestinian suffering. Ukraine is part of a crumbling, US-led, unipolar world order. Palestine, on the other hand, has no strategic value to the West whatsoever.

_________________________________________________________________

Just now, in my research, I stumbled on this article entitled Trump and the Unravelling of the Rules-Based International Order, authored by Narendra Pachkhédé / 11 February 2025, published by Open Canada. Read it. It provides a comprehensive, sobering, challenging, and yet hopeful analysis of the disruption and the rapidly evolving power dynamics already well underway. It explains the contradictions in the narratives we are being fed and connects a lot of the dots. It answers most, but not all, of the questions above that I’ve been grappling with. For me, the chief takeaway is that Europe, Canada and the Western world are trying to navigate a rules-based world order that no longer exists.