Reliance on third-party libraries is now commonplace in contemporary software
engineering. Being open source in nature, these libraries should advocate for a
world where the freedoms and opportunities of open source software can be
enjoyed by all. Yet, there is a growing concern related to maintainers using
their influence to make political stances (i.e., referred to as protestware).
In this paper, we reflect on the impact of world politics on software
ecosystems, especially in the context of the ongoing War in Ukraine. We show
three cases where world politics has had an impact on a software ecosystem, and
how these incidents may result in either benign or malignant consequences. We
further point to specific opportunities for research, and conclude with a
research agenda with ten research questions to guide future research
directions.Comment: Accepted to ESEC/FSE as a vision pape