Jahangir's World Times First Comprehensive Magazine for students/teachers of competitive exams and general readers as well.
The international system seems heading toward a period of great uncertainty. Established security alliances of the post-World War II era are disintegrating while the fledgling new ones such as the G20 have no capacity to replace them. The dominant discourse of market-friendly neoliberalism is losing prominence while neo-protectionism and economic nationalism are gaining ground. Amidst rising geopolitical tensions among major global powers, rising far-right movements and xenophobia, economic protectionism and regional turf wars, nation-states are strongly reasserting themselves.
Donald Trump’s election as the US president triggered worsening trends in international relations. But that’s not a new phenomenon as there were deep-running undercurrents which became apparent after his entry on the global stage. China’s increasing dominance in global production and trade networks became a real security issue for the American establishment. Therefore, multiple challenges against Beijing in the form of economic neo-protectionism as well as intensified security collaboration with Japan, South Korea and India were perceived as a systemic attempt to encircle the Asian dragon. Even the recent removal of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan is being interpreted as a move supported by Washington in an attempt to constrain China’s close allies in the region. While the focus of American foreign policy shifted to the Asia-Pacific, ongoing tensions in the South China Sea continued to produce new sources of friction, with nuclear threats from North Korea attracting increased attention.
Following a long interlude during which President Xi Jinping publicly tried to downplay tensions, China’s first symbolic response to perceived animosity of the US was to showcase its state-of-the-art arsenal in an unprecedented military parade at the Zhurihe military training base. While Xi indicated his “China Dream” to restore the country into a global leadership position with a world-class military force, most advanced pieces of weaponry including the new Dongfeng-31AG nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile, Dongfeng-21D “carrier killer” missile and H-6K long-range bombers were displayed to the global audience. Xi’s long-term project to modernize the Chinese army via massive investments in aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and stealth fighters was certainly congruent with the goal of surpassing the international influence of the US at a time of global uncertainty.
When it comes to the ever-deepening US-Russia diplomatic rift, Trump seems to have been taken hostage by the Pentagon and the military-industrial complex that constantly tries to raise the stakes against Putin’s Russia. Since the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia, anti-Russian rhetoric in US Congress has become increasingly harsher. Accusations of Russian interference in the US presidential election, and private dealings of Trump’s close aides with Russians have poisoned the domestic political debates in the US. Hence, despite efforts of Trump and US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, to resolve the outstanding issues amicably, US Congress codified the sanctions against Russia on the pretext of “violation of the territorial integrity of the Ukraine and Crimea, brazen cyberattacks and interference in elections and continuing aggression in Syria.” The latest congressional amendment added, “broad new sanctions on key sectors of Russia’s economy including mining, metals, shipping and railways” while authorizing “assistance to strengthen democratic institutions and counter disinformation across Central and Eastern European countries that are vulnerable to Russian aggression and interference.”
Putin retaliated against the Cold War-like move by deciding to expel 755 American diplomats from Moscow. This tit-for-tat game of controlled confrontation is bound to continue as long as Congress continues its “preemptive strikes” to hinder any attempts by the administration to normalize relations. As the Qatar Crisis and persistent tensions around Al-Aqsa continue in the Middle East, we should brave ourselves for a new era of perpetual global uncertainty.
