|
The
emerging world order
Sawraj
Singh
It
is becoming increasingly clear that the Iraqi crisis is going to
fundamentally change the old world order. With the fall of the
Soviet Union, a bipolar world changed into a uni-polar world. But,
the uni-polar world does not truly reflect the ground realities of
the contemporary world . Actually, multiple centers of power have
emerged. Only a concept of a multi-polar world is compatible with
the global situation. Some of the trends are becoming apparent. The
gap between America and Europe, is going to
become wider.
Russia,
China, and India are going to find that on many major global issues
their views are similar. Overall, Islamic countries an d other third
world countries are going to realize that their clout is growing.
The United Nations, NATO, and other world organizations such as WTO
and are going to become irrelevant. Globalization in its present
form is going to lose steam. In 1991, America was able to line up
the United Nations and a majority of countries on its side. In
Yugoslavia, eight years later, it could not get the United Nations
to support it, but was able to obtain NATO's approval.
This
time America was unable to convince either NATO or the United
Nations to help it. For all practical purposes, America is alone. By
attacking Iraq without the support of the UN or NATO, America has
made these organizations irrelevant. Actually these organizations
came into existence in a different era when the world was still
bipolar. It was divided into two camps: the western Capitalists and
the eastern so-called Socialist camp. These organizations were
trying to keep the balance of power between these camps.
With
the fall of the Soviet Union and collapse of the so-called Socialist
camp, the bipolar world became a uni-polar world. Therefore, these
organizations lost their relevance. The present American attack on
Iraq has just brought this reality out in the open. Are
international organizations completely useless now? Not really, if
these organizations are able to adopt to the new global realities
then they can regain their relevance and importance. We should
understand that the uni-polar world is just a transitory phase from
a bipolar world to a multi-polar world.
When
the new world order, the multi-polar world, finally gets established
then these organizations will become very useful and significant.
This Iraqi war has clearly shown that the gap between America and
Europe continues to widen. It was the fear of the Soviet Union which
was keeping Europe attached to
America. Once this fear was gone, Europe started perceiving America
as an economic rival and a hegemonic superpower bent upon unilateral
approach. Europe wants to reassert the fact that it is the natural
claimant of the western leadership, because it is the birthplace of
the western civilization. It no longer wants to tolerate an
extra-European power to be the leader of the western world. Canada,
although geographically close to the United States, finds itself
ideologically closer to Europe.
Therefore,
the gap between Canada and America also continues to widen.
Similarly, Mexico is America's neighbor, but ideologically it finds
itself closer to the third world. It was no accident that both
Canada and Mexico have failed
to support America in this war. Whereas the western alliance is
experiencing this growing rift, Russia, China, and India are finding
themselves increasingly agreeing with their assessment of the world
situation. This lays the foundation of a grand eastern alliance
composed of these three countries. Most of the other countries look
at this emerging alliance favorably because they see an opportunity
in this of restoring the balance of power in the world.
The
Islamic countries are reacting much differently to this attack as
compared to the attack of 1991 when most of them showed their
support with the USA, including their armies and opening their
territories as bases to launch attacks on Iraq. This time, Saudi
Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey have refused to give unqualified
support to America. Turkey has sent troops in Northern Iraq to
control the Kurds whom America sees as allies against Saddam. Turkey
is afraid that an independent Kurd state will destabilize Turkey by
instigating the Kurds living in Turkey. When the dust will settle,
it will become clear that the Islamic world has become more United
than ever and it is going to realize that in the final analysis the
numbers give clout. It is almost a foregone conclusion that in the
21st century Islam is going to overtake Christianity as the world's
largest religion.
This
situation is going to shift the balance of power towards the third
world because the Muslim countries form a bulk of the third world.
Another causality of war, could be old styled globalization. Many
people around the world believe that this has not helped the
majority of people in the world. It has actually widened the gap
between the rich and the poor countries and between the rich and
poor inside their countries. This kind of globalization lacks a
global perspective. The means of communication an d transport have
transformed the world into a global community. A new kind o f
globalization which is based on universal concern and universal well
being is really needed. America may draw very different conclusions
after the end of the war then when it started the war. Some of these
could be that it is not in its interest to be seen as anti-Muslim.
It has to take a more neutral stand in the conflict between the
Israelis and the Palestinians.
America
may also realize that it is very lonely at the top being the only
superpower. It does need cooperation of other countries. A
multi-polar world is more compatible with the multicultural reality
of America. America's diversity is its biggest assert rather than a
liability. It is much better to voluntarily change and lead the new
world order rather than be dragged into it. The future of the world
lies in adopting and promoting good concepts from different cultures
which should be seen as our greatest common resource.
Home | 