SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Much has been made of the emergence of a so-called multipolar world, one in which there might be several centres of power, specifically new ones that are not aligned with the West.
While advocates for this new order celebrate their belief a loss of the West’s dominant position, what they in fact advocate for is a replacement of the West by themselves rather than a shift to true multipolarity.
This fact is according to Universiti Malaya Foreign Affairs and Security Strategist Collins Chong Yew Keat. In observing on-going trends that have led to the current prolonged state of instability facing the world since the Covid-19 pandemic and exacerbated by the war in Ukraine with its resulting economic and supply chain disruptions, Chong said this has opened up space for others vying for this dominant position to the detriment of global security.
“Decades of peace, stability and progress are being threatened by rising revisionist powers seeking to capitalise on their perceived victim cards. They do so with increasingly adaptive propaganda and disinformation campaigns in capturing the attention of younger generations,” he said.
“With its unrivalled might in military and security assurances, the US-led West has been a stabilising and assuring force of global peace and stability, underscored by its proven track record in both creating peace and maintaining it.
"Its track record and legacy of being a force of good to the world and in tackling the world’s most pressing challenges from poverty and climate change. No other power has the capacity and willingness to be a responsible global player in ensuring collective prosperity,” he added.
In this backdrop China, which has emerged as a major economic power and is seeking to build military dominance beyond its periphery, has attempted to vie to displace the US to its south with both eyeing the countries that make up the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean).
Even as China has used its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), cutting a swathe of controversy even in Asean, it seeks to impose other tools of coercion and control with the ultimate goal of tilting the bloc to act in its favour by rolling out its “digital Yuan”, 5G technology, market access and the flow of tourists among other means.
Chong contrasted this with the approach the US has taken to Asean to date, with the country having spent an unquantifiable amount of resources and focus given in fighting diseases, providing lifesaving medication, ending conflicts and promoting economic growth in the region and urged Asean countries to keep this in mind when forming their foreign policy vis-à-vis great power competition.
He added that these positive values have also factored into the way the US does business in the region as opposed to its rivals: “A high bar is set in trade and economic policies to ensure standards are adhered to, from labour standards to human rights adherence as part of the broader global policies and investment criteria.
Strict indicators on environmental impact and spillover effects to the local community are considered, with the drive to enhance collective progress,” he explained.
While some observers have said the US and by extension the West is set to lose its position as a dominant force in world events others point to the potential that it still holds and the hard realities such as economic, sustainable, soft-power and security indicators.
Think Tank GIS Reports that the US defense budget is three times that of China and eight times that of Russia.
Its economic, financial and cultural influence, coupled with its innovative prowess, is unrivalled. It leads all other nations in Nobel Prizes, with 406 won compared to the UK’s 138 and Germany’s 114 (China, with 9 trails South Africa’s 11).
In sectors from computing and chip design to software, space exploration, language recognition and biochemistry and the US dollar, which underpins global trade, affords the U.S. nearly unlimited seigniorage. It adds that China’s rise is not likely to follow a linear path.
Economists no longer ask when it might overtake the US, but when the Chinese economy is likely to peak. While its research and development (R&D) capabilities are impressive, they remain a distant second to their Western and US counterparts with China’s substantial social problems, environmental degradation, water scarcity and a declining demographic and an aging population implies a shortage of labour.
While both powers vastly outmatch any of Asean’s individual members potential, the bloc collectively presents a large consumer-producer market and is rich in minerals and natural resources and sits along strategic trade routes. Strengthening the bloc and focusing on its centrality will be the way forward if it is to navigate this challenging geopolitical landscape. - Agencies
