With worsening conflicts in different parts of the world, US President Barack Obama indeed has a lot on his plate. The Obama administration is facing mounting criticism over its response to the Islamic State threat in the Middle East, Russian aggression in Ukraine and China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea – the three most pressing issues in the global arena today that are highlighted in the latest book by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, titled ‘World Order’.
In his book, Kissinger likens the crisis in the Middle East to Europe’s Thirty Years’ War in the 17th century, expressing the hope that the modern-day conflict can be settled by implementing Westphalia-style treaties. The accords brought order to central Europe in the past. One of the objectives of the peace pacts was to discourage states from interfering in each other’s internal affairs. They also called for a balance of power.
Although the similarities between the two events are clear, the United States, which has assumed the role of a global policeman, cannot simply adopt the approach just because it was successful in Europe. Kissinger knows very well the risks of applying traditional European concepts in modern times, but still believes that they are timeless and universal. Moreover, this region is affected by two factors that make the situation more complicated: religion and oil.
History tells us that multilateral talks, joint statements and international organisations cannot safeguard the world order. No matter how much the international community promotes peace and order around the world, without a mechanism that recognises each region’s culture and history, there will be no change in the status quo.
Clearly, the US has the power to lead the world, but it must first consider the varying situations in different regions before drafting a foreign policy because a one-size-fits-all approach has long proven ineffective.
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The Peninsula
