In the course of this ongoing series, my main appeal to what I have been calling the old world order refers to the condition of structural bipolarity, which existed during the cold war between the United States of America and the USSR. This condition was representative of a conflict, which was “larger than life, ergo sterile” as I put it in one of my earlier articles. I still insist that this kind of conflict ensured the world balance and international stability far more effectively than whatever we are having today, under the auspices of the “new world order.” What, I insist, it also ensured was the perpetuation of the American Empire. As long as the bipolarity factor was clearly identified and acknowledged, the international "balance of power" was kept along those lines, and the responsible nations of the world had a vested interest in maintaining the two poles of power, in order to maintain the global balance. With the collapse of the USSR and the refusal of the United States to recognize Russia as its successor in the post-Soviet world order, the global balance of power was dealt a devastating blow, which immediately denied the American Empire its life-saving status of a stabilizing factor, but instead suddenly made America just as vulnerable as the crumbling Empires of the past, turning her into the only bully on the block, thus alienating former friends and virtually sending most of them off to the opposite camp. That’s “balance of power” to you. It is that simple!
So, what is to be done?
I am hardly advocating a return to cold war, of course, but, in my view, the bipolar conflict between the two major antagonists, America and Russia, has not gone away at all, but has been driven underground, which is making it less manageable, and the international situation as such, less predictable and less stable. But it can still be managed, and a measure of global stability can still be reestablished and maintained, as long as we are prepared to reaffirm the necessary existence of the structural bipolarity in modern world. Such a recognition calls for the psychological acceptance of the fact, and, whether we like it or not, this is a condition sine qua non.
Otherwise, the future is rather bleak, and ultimately unpalatable, for the self-proclaimed sole superpower. In reality, a second superpower is looming large today, mightier and more threatening than the USSR ever was, and ultimately far more powerful than the United States herself… No, it is not China, whose military power cannot compare to the military power of the United States, and whose conspicuous deficiency in key energy resources makes her sorely dependent on outside sources. No, it is not Russia either. Although militarily on a par with the United States, and, in terms of her energy resources, an uncontested “sole” superpower, while her current dominance in space can hardly be contested either, Russia has no desire to go it alone this time. I will argue that Russia’s current strengths added together still qualify her as a global superpower, and yet she does not wish to press on with this distinction. Why settle for less when you can have more? And Russia has that “more” in her geopolitical arsenal as we speak, and, to be blunt, for as long as America and China are at odds, which, it appears, may be forever. Yes, for as long as China sees America as an adversary, an alliance with Russia is undoubtedly the top priority of China’s national interest. And now we come to the big point.
---The real “other superpower” of today is the joint power of Russia and China, a mutually super-beneficial conglomerate of the two colossi, in which the weaknesses of one are amply compensated by the strengths of the other. An unbeatable combination, of which fact both Russia and China are fully, and most satisfyingly, aware.
…Ironically, most political analysts, for different reasons, prefer to talk about China (customarily) or Russia (in the rare moments of audacious candor) always in isolation from each other. As if not talking about the elephant in the room will make him go away…
So, what is to be done?
I am hardly advocating a return to cold war, of course, but, in my view, the bipolar conflict between the two major antagonists, America and Russia, has not gone away at all, but has been driven underground, which is making it less manageable, and the international situation as such, less predictable and less stable. But it can still be managed, and a measure of global stability can still be reestablished and maintained, as long as we are prepared to reaffirm the necessary existence of the structural bipolarity in modern world. Such a recognition calls for the psychological acceptance of the fact, and, whether we like it or not, this is a condition sine qua non.
Otherwise, the future is rather bleak, and ultimately unpalatable, for the self-proclaimed sole superpower. In reality, a second superpower is looming large today, mightier and more threatening than the USSR ever was, and ultimately far more powerful than the United States herself… No, it is not China, whose military power cannot compare to the military power of the United States, and whose conspicuous deficiency in key energy resources makes her sorely dependent on outside sources. No, it is not Russia either. Although militarily on a par with the United States, and, in terms of her energy resources, an uncontested “sole” superpower, while her current dominance in space can hardly be contested either, Russia has no desire to go it alone this time. I will argue that Russia’s current strengths added together still qualify her as a global superpower, and yet she does not wish to press on with this distinction. Why settle for less when you can have more? And Russia has that “more” in her geopolitical arsenal as we speak, and, to be blunt, for as long as America and China are at odds, which, it appears, may be forever. Yes, for as long as China sees America as an adversary, an alliance with Russia is undoubtedly the top priority of China’s national interest. And now we come to the big point.
---The real “other superpower” of today is the joint power of Russia and China, a mutually super-beneficial conglomerate of the two colossi, in which the weaknesses of one are amply compensated by the strengths of the other. An unbeatable combination, of which fact both Russia and China are fully, and most satisfyingly, aware.
…Ironically, most political analysts, for different reasons, prefer to talk about China (customarily) or Russia (in the rare moments of audacious candor) always in isolation from each other. As if not talking about the elephant in the room will make him go away…
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