Undeterred Russia-China pushing for a new world order

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THE start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine was supposed
to give the US a hitherto unavailable opportunity to re-unite the western
alliance under its leadership and maintain the US-dominated post-Second
World War global order. While the Biden administration has got some
success in forcing Europe to renew its allegiance to Washington — and drop
its ambitions of strategic autonomy as an independent player in the
international arena — it has not really had any powerful impact on Russia
and China in terms of deterring them from pushing for their core objective
of alternative world order. As it stands, the leading factor is that
Washington’s success is itself largely limited to the west — a fact not
lost on Russia, China and other countries outside of Europe. Outside of
the occident, Washington’s ability to control anti-US forces has
considerably decreased. This is especially evident in the Middle East, a
region long known for its ‘deep’ alliance with the West but increasingly
following a path that does not converge with the US.

https://www.newagebd.net/article/185776/undeterred-russia-china-pushing-for-a-new-world-order

For Russia and China, this is an encouraging sign — not only because
visible and deep cracks have emerged in the wider US-led alliance, but
also because countries outside of the Transatlantic Alliance are showing
greater acceptability of the Sino-Russia bid to establish a multipolar
world order not vulnerable to US manipulation. The initial success in
charting the alternative course means that both Russia and China have
every reason to continue illuminating this path.

This was also at the heart of Vostok drills held in Russia in September.
This was a military exercise that, apart from Russia as the host country,
included China, India, Tajikistan, Belarus and Mongolia. Whereas the
decision of India and China to participate in these drills shows the
drastic limits of the extent to which Washington can dictate global
politics, the fact that these drills were held despite US sanctions on
Russia and its politics of imposing ‘isolation’ on Moscow shows, once
again, that the politics of alternative world order is fast gaining
traction.

How this exercise is tied to global politics can be understood from the
way Russia’s Vladimir Putin contextualised it. A day before China
confirmed its participation, Putin called for, in a speech he delivered to
the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security, ‘a radical
strengthening of the contemporary system of a multipolar world.’ This is
necessary, as Putin stressed, to stem the western tide to ‘expand its
bloc-based system to the Asia-Pacific region, like it did with NATO in
Europe.’ Putin’s remarks were precise enough about US geopolitics around
Taiwan as well. To quote him, ‘The US escapade towards Taiwan is not just
a voyage by an irresponsible politician, but part of the purpose-oriented
and deliberate US strategy designed to destabilise the situation and sow
chaos in the region and the world.’

Putin’s views are not idiosyncratic. In fact, the Chinese are echoing the
same in a powerful fashion. Global Times, an official mouthpiece of the
Communist Party of China, recently said that, ‘The US has been spiralling
upward in its all-encompassing containment of China, and there seems no
high point at which it will stop and take a break. It is like a runaway
horse running wildly to the precipice of war.’

The conclusion that this commentary drew is that the ultimate aim of
Washington is to establish its own hegemony in the region — and ultimately
in the world — by ‘squeezing’ China out. This conclusion is strikingly
similar to how Russia sees the US bid to expand NATO to Eastern Europe —
in particular Ukraine — to squeeze Russia in Europe. This conclusion is
resonating globally now — from the Middle East to Africa and the Pacific.

The reason why this is spreading is that the idea of a multipolar world is
attractive to many other states as well. The emphasis on multiple power
centres means that the centre of gravity will neither be Washington nor
Beijing or Moscow. In fact, the idea of a multipolar world order underpins
a system that is fundamentally different from today’s misweighted and
misguided rules.

In this context, India’s decision to participate in the multinational
military exercise shows how close New Delhi is to the idea of a multipolar
order that this drill represents. India is a country that has always
aspired to global power status. For years, it has been striving for
permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council. Its ambitions
are unlikely to be realised in a system dominated, unilaterally, by
Washington. Within this system, New Delhi is likely to remain a player
following, uncritically, the US in its footsteps. It is only by stepping
out of this system — which New Delhi partly did by refusing to condemn
Russia and/or deciding to buy Russian oil despite US sanctions — that New
Delhi can push for its great power status more freely than has been the
case.

There is no dearth of states in Asia and elsewhere aspiring to play a
bigger role. Turkey, for that matter, is another prime example, with Saudi
Arabia in the Gulf Arab world emerging as the latest champion of strategic
autonomy. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia’s refusal to exclude Russia from
the G20 summit has proven, yet again, that exercising unilateral hegemony
in today’s world is not the same as it was in the 1990s.

Given the scenario, what can Washington do? First, it can continue to
ignite conflict and hope to attract more and more allies. This will,
however, continue to backfire, as more and more countries are likely to
fall out with Washington’s geopolitics of conflict. Secondly, it can
safely reach the conclusion that the world has already changed, and that
Washington needs to adjust itself to the changing global structure and the
possibility of multiple power centres. Washington cannot fight everyone.
Period. With more and more countries seeking to trade in currencies other
than the USD means that the US ability to macro-manage global economics
through its financial control is diminishing fast as well. It cannot
sanction everyone and everything. Period.

### - very interesting/curious pov...

that could even turn out to be correct considering the US is already set
to be financially outgrown (by china for starters) in the near future...

equals a rather 'different' kinda 'mandela solution' for world problems?

as such a very curious idea/future indeed :)