The multi-polar world is here, see if you like it better

[BeyondGeography]

The Global Context of the Hamas-Israel War (gift link)

…the world is in the midst of a transition to a new order that experts describe with the word multipolar. The United States is no longer the dominant power it once was, and no replacement has emerged. As a result, political leaders in many places feel emboldened to assert their own interests, believing the benefits of aggressive action may outweigh the costs. These leaders believe that they have more sway over their own region than the U.S. does. “A fully multipolar world has emerged, and people are belatedly realizing that multipolarity involves quite a bit of chaos,” Noah Smith wrote in his Substack newsletter on Saturday.

…Perhaps the biggest damage to American prestige has come from Donald Trump, who has rejected the very idea that the U.S. should lead the world. Trump withdrew from international agreements and disdained successful alliances like NATO. He has signaled that, if he reclaims the presidency in 2025, he may abandon Ukraine. In the case of Israel, Trump encouraged Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, to show little concern for Palestinian interests and instead seek a maximal Israeli victory. Netanyahu, of course, did not start this new war. Hamas did, potentially with support from Iran, the group’s longtime backer, and Hamas committed shocking human rights violations this past weekend, captured on video. But Netanyahu’s extremism has contributed to the turmoil between Israel and Palestinian groups like Hamas…

…I understand that some readers may question whether the long era of American power that’s now fading was worth celebrating. Without question, it included some terrible injustices, be they in Vietnam, Iran, Guatemala or elsewhere. But it also made possible the most peaceful era in recorded history, with a sharp decline in deaths from violence, as Steven Pinker noted in his 2011 book, “The Better Angels of Our Nature.” And the number of people living in a democracy surged. Smith concluded his Substack newsletter on the new Middle Eastern war this way:

Over the past two decades it had become fashionable to lambast American hegemony, to speak derisively of “American exceptionalism,” to ridicule America’s self-arrogated function of “world police” and to yearn for a multipolar world. Well, congratulations, now we have that world. See if you like it better.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/09/briefing/hamas-israel-war.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[dutch777]

1. Too bad don't have something like a functional United Nations that could help navigate these waters

While us saying boo and everyone heaving to would be nice, it isn't really a rational expectation for a planet of billions of people in a wide variety of cultures and governments to behave so conveniently for us. If we are the world police then we have the cost and risk burden of that too. Not sure we want to pay that price. And with guys like Trump being President episodically its even scarier a thought. We may at times be better than the alternative but we have proven to make mistakes too. Somehow, no different than our domestic politics, we are going to need to figure out how to coordinate and cooperate and find common ground to solve problems. It won't be pretty, fast or perfect, but few things are.