haass134_solidcoloursGetty Images_worldchaos

عالَـم من الفوضى المتزايدة

Jan 6, 2022 Richard Haass

نيويورك ــ في مثل هذا الشهر قبل خمس سنوات، نُـشِـر كتاب لي بعنوان "عالَـم في فوضى". كانت الفرضية التي طرحها الكتاب تتلخص في أن نهاية الحرب الباردة لم تكن إيذانا ببدء عصر يتسم بقدر أعظم من الاستقرار، والأمان، والـسِـلم، كما توقع كثيرون. فبدلا من ذلك ظهر عالَـم حيث أصبحت الـغَـلَـبة للصراع وليس التعاون.

انتقد بعض الناس الكتاب في ذلك الوقت على أنه سلبي ومتشائم على نحو مفرط. الآن، بعد الأحداث التي شهدتها تلك السنوت الخمس، فربما يستحق الكتاب الانتقاد بسبب تفاؤله النسبي. لقد أصبح العالَم الآن مكانا أشد فوضوية مما كان عليه قبل خمس سنوات ــ وأغلب الميول والنزعات تسير في الاتجاه الخاطئ.

الواقع أن الفجوة بين التحديات والاستجابات على المستوى العالمي ضخمة ومتنامية. كشفت جائحة مرض فيروس كورونا 2019 (كوفيد-19) عن أوجه القصور التي تعيب الآليات الصحية الدولية. ونحن ندخل الآن عامنا الثالث من الجائحة، ومع ذلك لا نزال نجهل أصولها ومنشأها، بسبب المماطلة الصينية.

To continue reading, register now.

As a registered user, you can enjoy more PS content every month – for free.

Subscribe now for unlimited access to everything PS has to offer.

Already have an account? Log in

Subscribe to Project Syndicate

Enjoy unlimited access to the ideas and opinions of the world's leading thinkers, including weekly long reads, book reviews, topical collections, and interviews; The Year Ahead annual print magazine; the complete PS archive; and more. All for less than $9 a month.

Subscribe Now

Richard Haass

Writing for PS since 2020
141 Commentaries

Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, previously served as Director of Policy Planning for the US State Department (2001-2003), and was President George W. Bush's special envoy to Northern Ireland and Coordinator for the Future of Afghanistan. He is the author, most recently, of The World: A Brief Introduction (Penguin Press, 2020).

new comment has been posted. new comments have been posted.

0 Comments on this paragraph, 9 Comments on this article

Stopda Steele Jan 9, 2022

In classic FSO style, Dick misdiagnoses an obvious problem then revels in his own wisdom for identifying the problem without offering any practical solutions.
A new reply to this comment has been posted.
Leto Atreides Jan 9, 2022

Even as Haass laments the mounting disarray in the world, he is also emblematic of part of the problem. As a representative of mainstream American thinking, he points fingers at American adversaries, but largely ignores how American actions are contributing to such disarray. This is not a recipe for collective global action to stem the growing disarray.
- Adrian Wu Jan 10, 2022
  
  You have forgotten one thing, and it is that the US is exceptional. It alone makes the rules which everyone else needs to abide by. However, the US can pick and choose which rules to agree to according to its own advantage. The world can only be peaceful if everyone abides by this "rule based system" (everyone except the rule maker, of course). The US supposedly promotes democracy (although the country itself is an oligarchy), but it wants to have autocratic power when dealing with international matters. In other words, it wants to rule over an empire. Anyone not within its control is an adversary. Not much different than Britain before WWI; a supposedly democratic country ruling its colonies with brutal, sometimes bloody autocratic power.
  A new reply to this comment has been posted.
A new reply to this comment has been posted.
James Cunningham Jan 7, 2022

Without American leadership in building a consensus in dealing with these global problems, it is hard to imagine progress towards solutions. That can’t happen until we can restore balance to our governance. Right now only two of the three branches of government seem to be functioning as intended - the executive and the judiciary. The President issues executive orders and the Supreme Court allows or cancels them. Congress is reduced to mud wrestling with little inclination toward building consensus solutions for all American people. Until a statesman of the caliber of Bill Clinton or George H.W. Bush comes to the fore, government will remain dysfunctional and we will make little progress in solving our problems - global and domestic.
- Adrian Wu Jan 10, 2022
  
  The US only acts for the benefit of its ruling elites. The so called consensus is built by coercion. The US political system has been hijacked by the military industrial complex since the 1960s. The US domestic and foreign policies in recent years only start to make sense when viewed through this angle. It is only relevant as a world power because of its military strength and its stranglehold on the international financial system. It lacks the moral and ethical standing to be persuasive otherwise.
  A new reply to this comment has been posted.
A new reply to this comment has been posted.
cedric hinsch Jan 6, 2022

The analytical interpretation of the overall world affairs is clearly on point. I agree with the content of this piece in almost any conceivable respect. Calling for a political settlement, though, sounds almost like an accommodation to Putin‘s ultimatum to discuss the political architecture in the euro-atlantic in very broad and structural terms. Since said architecture ought to be off the table, there is relatively little space for a „political“ agreement except in a scenario in which Russia would seriously consider leaving the Donbas, Crimea, adhere to Open Skies, the INF and commit to a series of other imperative conditions. Because the probability for thar outcome is extraordinarily low, I would rather speak of a „diplomatic“ solution, which will require both dialogue and effective deterrence and readiness to intervene ex ante.
A new reply to this comment has been posted.
john boveri Jan 6, 2022

For all the disarray that Mr. Haase identifies, one can be solved with relative ease and is eminently reasonable - stop the unnecessary encroaching growth of NATO so threatening to Russia.
A new reply to this comment has been posted.

https://prosyn.org/MBX5jYdar

عالَـم من الفوضى المتزايدة

Subscribe to Project Syndicate

New Comment

Email this piece to a friend

Contact us

Log in/Register

عالَـم من الفوضى المتزايدة

Subscribe to Project Syndicate

Edit Newsletter Preferences

Set up Notification