Putin and Xi: America-centric world order is no more

FPI / February 27, 2022

Russia's Vladimir Putin and Chinese supreme leader Xi Jinping have made it clear: "The old world order dominated by the United States, its values and interests is over," an analyst wrote.

Aided by the disastrous U.S. surrender in Afghanistan, Russia and China last year completed the convergence of their anti-American strategies in what was "the best year of Russian-Chinese relations in the history of the two historical rivals," Hussein Aboubakr Mansour wrote for the Washington, D.C.-based Endowment for Middle East Truth on Feb. 25.

"Through a well-calculated combined effect of strategies, Russia, China, and Iran have been able to undermine the American-led world order and profoundly shake the confidence of the world in American resolve."

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is "a clear sign that our world order is broken," Mansour added.

"American security promises and commitments, once a sure thing, no longer carry the weight they once did. To add insult to injury, President Putin announced his intent to invade Ukraine during the very Security Council’s emergency meeting meant to stop him. Moreover, the Russian ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, who happened to serve as the Council’s rotating president this month, used his position to justify Russia’s action, the very kind of action the UN Security Council was created to prevent."

The Russia-China strategic partnership was solidified amid "American political polarization and strife at home and a clear commitment problem abroad," Mansour wrote. "Following the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan last August, many allies and rivals considered it a signal of a global American retreat."

The Biden administration has also engaged in an "obsessive-compulsive urge to undo the Trump’s administration steps taken against Iran, delisting the Houthi Iranian proxies, and seeking to rejoin the JCPOA" signaled that the United States "is either unwilling or unable to defend the world order she has built by any means necessary. American negotiators in Vienna are working around the clock trying to find a way to meet the demands of Iranians at the same time as Iranian proxies are bombing close US allies in the Arab Gulf," Mansour wrote.

Mansour concluded:

"If sanctions cannot deter anyone, what is their use? This is but only one of the crucial questions the American foreign policy industrial complex needs to rethink. Our world order is broken and falling apart at the seams as we juggle multiple strategic threats that seem to overwhelm our current capacity. The worst nightmare of the United States, having to respond to major challenges to its position in the global structure on multiple fronts, may become a reality soon. Domestic economic problems and political strife are going to compound the challenge for the administration.

"Most importantly, the ability of Russia and China to make inroads in the Middle East, especially with Iran and the wealthy Gulf monarchies, can alter the entire global power field. If traditional US allies are uncertain about America’s ability to maintain the current geopolitical structure, they are likely to be open to Russian and Chinese alternatives."

Free Press International