Russia is the main beneficiary of the decline of American influence in the military field whereas China is the main beneficiary of American decline in the economic field.
By Dr. Sawraj Singh
Even though the changing trends and equations of power have been becoming clear over the last few decades, the speed of changes has really accelerated in the second decade of the 21st century. The relative decline of American influence and gain of influence by Russia and China has become very clear in this decade. Primarily, Russia is the main beneficiary of the decline of American influence in the military field whereas China is the main beneficiary of American decline in the economic field.
The Russian gains in the military field are becoming clear in Europe and the Middle East. Russia won the war with Georgia in 2008, annexed Crimea in 2014, and won the war in Ukraine in 2015. American allies are not fully confident that America can protect them against Russia. They are trying to make independent deals with Russia while maintaining a semblance of western unity. French and German leaders went to Moscow to talk to Putin while America was trying to ostracize Putin. Even the most loyal American ally, England, does not want to be left behind. Cameron recently talked to Putin on the phone for 30 minutes.
The situation in the Middle East is even worse than Europe. The staunchest American allies are losing confidence in the American capability to protect them. The Gulf countries can be considered in that category. The Saudis are extremely disappointed in the outcome of the war in Yemen where they are clearly on the losing side. They are also very unhappy with the American overtures to their top rival Iran, and these are making them very nervous. America needs Iran to fight the growing influence of IS in Iraq and Syria. Recently, the IS has been able to gain a foothold in Ramadi, just an hour from Baghdad, and in Palmyra which is a very important historical town in Syria. From Ramadi to Palmyra, the IS is increasing its area of its proposed Caliphate. The rise of IS will continue to force America to give concessions to Iran. This will alienate its Gulf allies. Egypt is moving closer to Russia. Egypt attended the 70th victory parade in Moscow where Russia had invited its closest allies and friends. Egypt is the Arab country with the largest population and historically has acted as the leader of the Arab world. Therefore, the tilting of Egypt towards Russia represents a very significant shift of power in the Middle East.
China has undoubtedly become the leading economic power of the world. It is the manufacturing hub of the world and has become the largest trading partner of many countries in the world.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has become the new symbol of China’s economic strength. Many of America’s allies have joined the bank and others have shown eagerness to join. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is going to pose a formidable challenge to the American-led financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The new alternative institutions and organizations such as Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and BRICS all have China as the leading power behind them. These institutions and organizations are now acting as challengers to western-dominated institutions and organizations. Eventually, they will replace them as the leading global organizations. The present institutions are representative of western domination and American hegemony. They represent the unipolar world order. The economic institutions developing with China as the leading country are representatives of the emerging multipolar world.
Russia’s military power and China’s economic power are eroding American influence in the world. It is conceivable that the change from a western-dominated and American-led unipolar world order can happen before the end of this decade (second decade of the 21st century). This is going to be a very significant development in world history. This will be soon followed by the complete collapse of the western capitalist system. I feel that the western capitalist system will collapse before 2050.
What we are seeing is the impending demise of consumer culture and the so-called western civilization based upon this consumer culture. The consumer culture and the western civilization based upon it will not last beyond the 21st century. The 21st century, which is going to go down in history as Asia’s century, will actually revive the true meaning of culture and civilization. In the 19th and 20th centuries, under the influence of consumer culture and the so-called western civilization, there was a reversal of human development and progress. Human existence has been reduced to a mere consumer. If this process is not checked, then human existence will become completely mechanical and robotic. Asia’s replacing the West as the leading region of the world will reverse this trend and help with the re-humanization process.
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].
