Monday 28 / September / 2026
The core theme of this essay is established on the idea that Palestine and Ukraine represent two different fronts in terms of geography and history. The two fronts unveil the profound transformations that affected the international system established on western dominance since the end of the Cold War. Palestine has questioned and tested the political and moral legitimacy of this system, while Ukraine has tested the limits of the military and economic power of this system in imposing its will and achievement of its strategic objectives. Apart from the two fronts, there are other regional and international factors such as the rise of China, Russia and Iran; the growing autonomy of the states of the Global South and the emergence of resistance as a regional factor that contributes to redistribution of power in the Middle East. However, this is not just a sudden collapse of the West, but rather a gradual erosion of its power to hold and monopolise international decision-making and to change from a unipolar system to another system with multiple centres of power and influence.
Palestine enjoys an exceptional importance as it is no longer merely a local or regional cause. The war on Gaza has triggered a growing gap between Western speech on human rights, international law and actual political stances toward the Palestinian cause. This has negatively affected the image of the West and its legitimacy in the eyes of broad segments of global public opinion and has also extended to Western societies. Modern dominance is not just established on military might and economic power but also the ability to convince others with the legitimacy of the system it adopts.
The digital revolution contributed to deepening this transformation as citizens no longer fully depend on traditional media institutions, but have become able to observe events firsthand, compare narrations, and access multiple sources. For this, Palestine has become a prominent issue in universities, youth movements and civil society associations. The issue is no longer limited to who holds the power, but also Who has the ability to convince the world of the justice of their position. To this end , Imam Khomeini’s thought takes on special significance; he removed the Palestinian cause from its geographical framework and associated it with the resistance against dominance, arrogance and the rejection of dependency.
In this context, Palestine is not merely an occupied land, but also a symbol of the will of the peoples to regain their independence and their right to self-determination. For this reason, Al Quds has taken on political, humanitarian, and cultural dimensions beyond the boundaries of the Palestinian cause. This perspective has developed in the thought of Imam Khamenei, who sees Palestine as a pivotal element in reshaping the balance of power in the Middle East as the continuation of the occupation is not linked solely to Israeli military superiority, but rather to a network of political, security, and economic relations that have historically enabled Western powers to exercise influence in the region.
The Axis of Resistance emerges as a regional factor contributing to breaking the Western dominance on power in the Middle East. The emergence of powers capable of challenging Israeli military superiority and US influence has made the region’s strategic environment more complex and reduced the ability of external powers to manage the region according to unilateral arrangements. This does not mean that only the Axis of Resistance explains these international shifts; rather, it represents a regional variable within a broader process of power redistribution with China, Russia, Iran, and the countries of the Global South all engaged and with the Middle East being part of the process of transformation in the global system and not merely a region affected by it.
Ukraine represents the other side of the crisis; while Palestine has put Western legitimacy to the test, Ukraine has put the West’s ability to use economic and military power and translate it into political results to the test. The war has become a testing ground for the future of European security and the balance of power between Russia and the West and has reshaped international relations, mainly between Russia, China, and Iran. It war has shown that sanctions, economic and political pressure, do not necessarily guarantee the subjugation of a major power that possesses strategic resources and other alternatives. While the two causes are not identical, with each one has its own history and specific legal and political context, the two causes reveal different aspects of the crisis of the Western system. In Palestine, the contradiction between rhetoric and practice is evident, and moral and political legitimacy are eroding, while in Ukraine, the limits of the ability to translate economic and military superiority into a decisive political settlement are becoming apparent.
One can propose a forward-looking thesis: that the liberation of Palestine and the establishment of an independent Palestinian political system will constitute a turning point in the structure of the Middle East, provided that the concept of liberation goes beyond the mere recovery of land to include the establishment of a sovereign political system that exercises national autonomy and conducts its international relations on the basis of equality and independence. According to reliable field data, achieving this path is not impossible at present, and its impact will not be confined to within Palestinian borders but will extend to the entire region.
The concept of “liberating Ukraine” can be understood in its broader political sense; that is, liberating national decision-making, rather than merely shifting Ukraine from the influence of one power to that of another. The more pluralistic the international system becomes, the greater the ability of small and medium-sized states to build balanced relationships with various centers of power.
Therefore, the relationship between Palestine and Ukraine is not one of direct causality, in the sense that the liberation of Palestine would automatically lead to the liberation of Ukraine, but rather a potential strategic relationship based on changes in the international environment. in this context, Palestine becomes one of the major turning points in the Middle East in the establishment of an independent political system, while the reshaping of the international system in light of the situation in Ukraine and other countries provides a broader space for these nations to regain their national autonomy.
Thus, Palestine and Ukraine transcend the scope of direct conflict to become indicators of a deeper transformation in the structure of the world system. The world’s transition from a system dominated by a central power to a more pluralistic one, in which powers compete and negotiate, and sovereignty, independence, and the balance of interests become fundamental pillars in shaping the international future.
