The "crumbling world" is no longer just a metaphor

An article published on the Website of The Asia Times in Hong Kong on October 20, titled "A Discussion on a Multipolar World Utopia in Sochi," said that the "crumbling world" is no longer just a metaphor. The author is Pepe Escobar. The full text is excerpted below:

The annual Valdai International Debating Club (Valdai Club) meeting has always been considered absolutely essential in understanding the constant movement of geopolitical sectors across Eurasia.

The 18th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Club, which is taking place in Sochi, Russia, once again met expectations. The overall theme of the annual meeting is "Global Upheaval in the 21st Century: Individuals, Values and Nations". It amply elaborates on the theme that the Valday Club has been analyzing since 2018 – the "crumbling world": as the organisers have emphasized, this "is no longer just a metaphor, but a reality that we can touch before our eyes".

The Annual Meeting released two intriguing reports, especially for the Southern Hemisphere – The Age of the Pandemic: The Second Year and The Future Is Back, and History Goes On: The Utopia of a Multiverse World.

The restructuring of the G20 increases its authority

Former Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim stressed "the absurdity of the UN Security Council's decisions even on outbreak matters".

Amorim expressed an important demand from the countries of the Southern Hemisphere: "A new institutional framework is needed. We are now closer to this requirement than the G20 – more African countries, fewer European countries. "Such a G20 would have authority that the UN Security Council currently lacks.

Amorim links it all to the core issue of inequality: his self-deprecation "from a forgotten region" — Latin America — is apt. He also stressed that "we do not need peace under the United States." The "real step" toward multipolarization will be "a massive conference" led by this "improved version of the G20."

The discussion at the Sochi conference basically focused on the following aspects: the end of the current hegemonic socio-economic system; the crisis of the alliance system; and the superposition of the harm of mixed war and epidemic. One inescapable conclusion is that the current dysfunctional international system is not competent for crisis management.

As we delve deeper into the term "invisible war"—a term used by Toma Gomar, director of the French Institute of International Relations—we face a superposition of environmental degradation and the high concentration of hazards on digital platforms.

Gomar also makes very important points that many analyses in developing countries ignore: Washington has decided to maintain its status as the "head of its peers" and will not abandon this position in any case.

Relations between Russia and NATO are deadlocked

The Valdai meeting was held meaningfully when Moscow decided to suspend the work of its nato mission and close its liaison office in Moscow from 1 November.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has already stressed that Moscow no longer pretends that relations with NATO may improve in the near future: from now on, if they want dialogue, they should contact the Russian ambassador to Belgium.

One question that needs to be addressed in the Sochi talks is whether Moscow should expect NATO to take the first steps toward improving relations. Lavrov had to reiterate once again what was obvious: "Yes, this is the basis for moving forward." The deterioration of our relations with NATO, the European Union, any country in the West or any region of the world is not caused by us. ”

As for NATO's readiness to build a "capability" to deal with China, given nato's recent humiliation in Afghanistan, dealing with China could be met with collective ridicule from developing countries.

As the EU and China inevitably become increasingly geo-economically intertwined, dysfunctional NATO will at best continue to feed like a bunch of zombie mad dogs. This could serve as a utopian theme for the 2022 Valday Conference.

Source: Reference News Network