HOW UKRAINE'S COLLAPSE COULD TILT THE GLOBAL BALANCE OF POWER?

It is often said that a big crisis produces great solutions.

- DR RAVI RAMESHCHANDRA SHREYA SINGH KASANA

For nearly three years, Ukraine has stood as the eastern shield of Europe, battered, resilient, and symbolic of a global struggle over the future of international order. Yet as the war stretches on, the possibility of Ukraine's fall, once unthinkable, is now spoken aloud in diplomatic corridors and strategic briefings. Trump's unpredictable diplomatic and strategic support to Ukraine and simultaneous engagements with Putin have been making Kyiv vulnerable. Should Ukraine collapse militarily or politically, the consequences would extend far beyond its borders. Such an outcome would not simply alter the geography but initiate a new era of multipolarity, with Russia as a dominant nation within it.It would reshape alliances, energize authoritarian regimes, and usher in a new era of geopolitical rivalry that could define the 21st century. The Ukraine conflict is a struggle to prevent one state from dominating others, with Russia seeking to prevent Ukraine from shifting the regional balance by joining NATO. Here, NATO and Russia are both trying to keep the balance tilted in their favour. Such a conflict is viewed through the lens of a breakdown in the balance of power, leading to a new geopolitical struggle that could result in a more bipolar conflict in a multipolar international system. Realist theories view it as the pursuit of power, security, and influence in a system lacking a global authority.