The West Lost Ukraine—And With It, the Illusion of Global Power
Ukraine was never the real prize. The prize was global hegemony. That war is over. And the West lost.
Published: 4 July 2025
Now the United States quietly stepped back from its grand Ukraine project, it didn’t just end a war—it ended an illusion.
Ukraine was never merely about defending democracy or resisting aggression. It was the frontline in a decades-long campaign of Western expansionism—one that began with broken promises in the 1990s and collapsed in the fields of the Donbas. The project failed. The West lost. And with it, the myth of global dominance is collapsing.
The Real Origins: Not 2022—but 1991
Western leaders and media often claim that Russia's “unprovoked invasion” in 2022 launched the war. That’s historical amnesia. The real starting point was 1991.
When the Soviet Union dissolved, the U.S. and NATO gave assurances to Moscow that NATO would not expand “one inch eastward.” Those assurances were quickly abandoned. Poland, Hungary, the Baltics and others were absorbed into NATO. By 2008, Ukraine and Georgia were formally invited.
For Russia, this wasn’t democracy-building—it was siege.
When the 2014 Maidan revolution—backed overtly and covertly by Western actors—toppled a neutral government in Kyiv, Russia knew the game had changed. Crimea seceded and rejoined Russia. The Donbas rose in rebellion. The Minsk peace deals were never honoured—intentionally, as admitted by Western leaders themselves.
By 2022, diplomacy had failed. Russia acted—not to conquer, but to contain.
Ukraine: From Project to Pawn to Afterthought
In Western strategy circles, Ukraine was a tool—a geopolitical wedge against Russia. In practice, it became the proxy that bled.
Billions in aid, sophisticated weapons, and foreign advisors were poured in. Kyiv was told to resist, to push, to believe NATO membership was coming. It never was.
Now, Washington is walking away. Aid has slowed. NATO is exhausted. Even Western media has gone silent.
Ukraine faces a grim future: a broken economy, a collapsing population, and a de facto partition. The West promised security. What Ukraine got was war, devastation, and abandonment.
Russia: Strategic Patience, Not Imperial Ambition
Let’s dispense with the myth: Russia didn’t invade to expand an empire. It intervened to prevent one—NATO’s.
The Special Military Operation was the culmination of years of ignored red lines. Russia’s goal was simple: stop NATO, protect Russian-speaking regions, and force a new security balance in Europe.
Despite sanctions and media hysteria, Russia didn’t fall. It adapted. The ruble recovered. Energy exports surged. BRICS expanded. Moscow began forging an alternative global order—one grounded in sovereignty, not subjugation.
This wasn’t imperialism. It was strategic self-preservation—and it worked.
United States: The Return of Realism
What’s happening now in Washington isn’t failure. It’s recalibration.
The U.S. didn’t achieve its objectives in Ukraine. It didn’t isolate Russia. It didn’t collapse its economy. Instead, it exposed the limits of its global reach.
Now, the U.S. is quietly pivoting:
Toward Asia, where China is the real challenge.
Toward selective engagement, even with Russia.
Toward transactional diplomacy, where ideals matter less than leverage.
This is empire management, not moral leadership. Expect the U.S. to seek limited partnerships with Russia—especially in energy or arms control—to weaken Moscow-Beijing ties. Kissinger-style realism is back.
Europe: Trapped in Its Own Russophobia
If the U.S. can pivot, Europe cannot.
The EU and the UK spent a decade demonizing Russia—culturally, politically, and economically. Now, it’s locked in a corner. With Washington withdrawing, Brussels has no plan, no unity, and no credible military alternative.
Economic pain is biting hard:
German industry is in decline.
France is frustrated and divided.
Eastern Europe is fearful and overextended.
The fantasy of 5% defense spending is just that—a fantasy. Voters won’t sacrifice pensions and public services for a war they no longer understand.
But signs of recalibration are emerging. French President Emmanuel Macron recently called Vladimir Putin—a small but significant break in the isolation. France may now push for strategic autonomy, even if Berlin and Warsaw resist.
Europe’s future depends on its ability to escape the cage of its own narrative.
The Global Shift: A Post-Western Order Emerges
The biggest change isn’t military. It’s systemic.
The Ukraine war proved that Western dominance is no longer enforceable. The Global South didn’t follow. Sanctions leaked. Neutrality became profitable. Countries like India, Brazil, South Africa, and Turkey refused to take sides—and benefited from both.
BRICS+ expanded. SCO gained ground. The West’s monopoly on legitimacy has collapsed.
A new world is rising:
Multipolar
Transactional
Grounded in sovereignty, not ideology
No more permission slips. No more universalist doctrines. Power is shifting, and the world is moving on.
What Happens Now?
The West will move from:
Universalism ➜ Realism
Military dominance ➜ Economic competition
Global intervention ➜ Regional prioritization
Russia will consolidate territorial gains, continue integrating with the Eurasian and BRICS frameworks, and build long-term resilience.
Ukraine, tragically, will be left with scars, fragments, and memories of Western promises that were never meant to be kept.
Europe will have to choose: remain an echo chamber for U.S. foreign policy or chart a sovereign path and face reality on its eastern frontier.
Final Thought: The Illusion Is Over
The U.S. did not lose a war on the battlefield. It lost control over the story—and with it, the power to shape the world unchallenged.
Russia did not defeat the West militarily. But it exposed its weakness: overreach, arrogance, and strategic incoherence.
Ukraine was never the real prize. The prize
was global hegemony. That war is over.
And the West lost.
The author is an independent historian and commentator specializing in European memory, conflict, and reconciliation.+