Most are developing nations.
And just as they are developing economically, they are developing their ability to take a moral stance.
Put another way, they need more time to grow up. To mature.
Notable examples are India and Turkiye (Turkey). Turkiye is even a member of NATO and yet they have not agreed to the sanctions imposed by the West, preferring to play both sides.
It is reasonable to infer that these undecided nations are afraid of upsetting Russia and China.
I am sure all kinds of excuses are conjured up to justify their positions.
Of course, the war is far from decided and either party could win.
The West could get all tangled up with doubt and not deliver the weapons Ukraine needs to fight back and push the Russians out.
With the lethal assistance of China, Putin could double up on the missiles he fires daily on Ukraine and gain an edge that will help defeat them.
So far, though, even with all our delays and indecisiveness, enough armaments have got through for the world to witness a remarkable fight. Ukraine, the underdog, bloodying the nose of the big bully next door.
The undecided nations have seen this enormous display of valor but have not been persuaded to side with Ukraine. This is remarkable. It is because developing nations are themselves underdogs.
There is no certainty, whatsoever, that India or Turkiye will ever fulfill their potential as nations. It is all a dream at this point. Instead of moving forward they may get stuck and regress instead. India may never become what China is now. Turkiye may keep electing autocrats like Erdogan, again and again.
A distinctive feature about Ukraine is that here is a nation which has had all manner of difficulties in governance and then, to everyone’s surprise, when the bully next door, loaded with nuclear weapons, chooses to rum them over, they stand up and fight like no one has fought in decades.
And yet, despite all that courage, the majority of developing nations cannot make Ukraine’s struggle their own.
This is not good. Not to stand up for your brothers and sisters.
It reveals a lack of moral strength and a weak historical perspective.
Zelensky should be telling the undecided, ‘where’s your courage? Our fight should be your fight. How come you’re not stepping up and owning it? You don’t have to send us anything, not even a toothbrush, but you can do a great deal by standing up in the United Nations and decrying the absurdity of seeing a big bully trample on the little guy next door.
If you can’t do that, then you have your priorities wrong. And you’re letting yourself be intimidated by both Russia and China.’
Zelensky should say that, or something close to it.
Denounce the undecided. Expose them. Call them timid. Remind them that their evolution to developed nation is not assured with their present behavior.
Zelensky ought to speak loudly on this matter for the good of the undecided and the good of the world.
The outcome of this conflict is not assured.
A deranged Putin may yet fire his nuclear weapons. And as he descends into madness and goes deeper into his orgy of death, when he gets ready to push the button, he may not consult a list to differentiate between the nations for and against the war. After he’s fired on the ‘evil’ West, he will likely keep firing at random… his appetite for killing insatiable.
Undecided nations of the world, find your courage now.
History remembers timidity and has another word to describe it.
Oscar Valdes 