Turkey’s Vatan Party has started an Initiative on the New International Order (NINTO) and organized an international symposium. 38 distinguished speakers representing 24 countries from 6 continents parcipated in the symposium, among them various experts of United World International.
Participants debated a wide range of issues from the end of the unipolar world to the crisis of neoliberalism, from identity politics to alternative concepts of security alliances and political economy.
UWI will present in the coming days the speeches held in the symposium in the hope of encouraging the debate on the emerging new world order.
Today we present the views of Dr. Sadollah Zarei from Tehran, Iran.
In the Name of God
At first I would like to express my gratitude to scholars participating at this important conference that is holding in due time. Moreover, I express my gratitude to the respected leader and members of the Vatan Party. I hope these discussions build a base for further interactions on the important regional and international issues.
The bipolar system that had divided the world and our region into two parts– one dominated by the US and the other by the Soviet Union– broke apart after the collapse of the Soviet Union and demolition of the Berlin Wall. However, the United States and some Western countries still seek to recreate their Cold War-era dominance.
Therefore, during the past 20 years, they have imposed nine destructive wars upon our region, including wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Yemen. Although these wars have imposed great suffering on the region’s nations, they have turned into a battlefield between nations and arrogant powers.
The war in Afghanistan, with the US confession of defeat, is reaching its end. In the Afghanistan war, an independent nation has overcome an army that was the essence of Western culture.
The 7-year-old war in Iraq that has claimed lives of almost 500 thousands of people ended with the expulsion of American forces. This marked another chapter of the regional nations’ victory against American Imperialism. At the time being, the remnants of American forces and military bases are under high pressure of Iraqi people that will force them to leave the country.
The war in Syria that brutally targeted the country’s nation is witnessing its last days. In this war, some of Syria’s neighbors have supported the US in the attempt to separate the nation from resistance camp. However the Syrian people has interwoven their country’s destiny with the resistance.
War in Lebanon ended up with Israel’s defeat in 2006, marking the first defeat for the regime. The Israeli army that had entered Lebanese soil in 1982 was forced to withdraw from there in 2000 and was defeated six years later. Today, the Lebanon is gripped with another conspiracy, but no foreign power will be able to dictate its will on the Lebanese nation.
Tel Aviv has launched several wars against the oppressed Palestinian people, but these have borne no fruit for the regime due to resistance of children of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, Ahmed Yassin, and Fathi Shaqaqi.
Yemen war has entered its seventh year with the resistance of the Yemeni nations against Saudi and Emirati aggressors who are overtly supported by the US and Europe. Now the Saudi regime, that launched the aggression with the aim of taking control of the neighboring country, is lonelier than ever and desperately tries to end the war. But neither is able to continue the war nor is able to end it. This war, too, very soon will end with the victory of Yemeni people and Saudi regime will suffer a 400 million dollar loss imposed on the West-backed kingdom by the war.
While the West’s power is diminishing, the Asian countries are engaged in serious and multilateral cooperation. This cooperation has angered the West, leading it to impose sanctions on Asian powers, in particular on China, Iran, Turkey and Russia. These countries can easily overcome the US pressure through expanding cooperation. Imperialism has reached its end in Asia. The US addressed in the Munich Security Conference the Europeans and openly called for unity to conquer the challenges ahead. This was, indeed, a confession of defeat. Because until the last two decades, the US felt no need for consultation with the Europeans in order to launch a new war in Asia. Now the US calls for unity with Europeans, while the EU itself is approaching towards collapse with the UK’s Brexit bid and whispers of separatism across the block.
France as one of the pillars of the EU in response to Joe Biden’s call for unity said it was time for the European nations to form their national armies to surmount their domestic challenges. Macron reminded Biden that the US itself is gripped by domestic security challenges and the notion of American democracy was taunted by the 2020 elections and Donald Trump’s actions.
France, seemingly has overcome the Yellow Vests’ crisis. However it seems that the potential victory of the extremist far-right Marine Le Pen in upcoming French election would shake the base of country’s political system.
The US is faced with economic challenges. Joe Biden during his elections campaign announced that America needs 3 trillion Dollars to surmount the economic crisis while the country is suffering from a 3 trillion Dollars budget deficit. Moreover, the US is suffering from deep-rooted racism. In the past, the blacks’ movement was in dispute with the whites’ movement, but today whites are in dispute with each other making many think that the very world of the United States is losing its meaning.
It is said that the US, regarding foreign policy, has adopted multilateralism, as an indication of failure for its long time unilateralism. But will multilateralism happen in reality? To answer this question one must watch and see the future of disputes between the US vs. Russia and China. The current condition indicates that in reality, there is neither multilateralism nor unilateralism, and both of them have reach to a dead-end. The US has no plan for the future and this fact promises better prospect for other nations.
As soon as imperialism kneels in front of the reality of the world, the nations will take stronger steps towards shaping the future of the world. The US since long ago was unable to perceive the world’s developments, and thus has no plan for them. The US was talking about the New Middle East for two decades. But what is its plan for the New Middle East? Why is it that nobody knows about that plan? Because it has no external reality.
The US seeks to re-impose its dominance over Iran, Turkey, and Iraq, but it has no plan except for violence and hostility. Is it possible to shape the future through hostility? No, the future only could by shaped by compromise and cooperation, the factors that the US has not planned for. The US supports separatism in our region, but the separatists are doomed to failure in the face of nations’ will for unity.
Today the Israeli regime is a tool for US in Asia to advance its plans. But does Tel Aviv have the power to play such a role? Israel has hold four elections in the past two years, and its parties are unable to agree to form a united government. The regime is unable to tackle security problems in its south, center, north, and east north. Tel Aviv from time to time launches airstrikes against Syria and Gaza and deploys its spy plane into Lebanese air to distract the world’s attraction from its weak points. Why is Israel inking security deals with weak regional Arab states? Because it is worrying about the future as it sees that the Arab World is apt for changes. Ten years ago, the so-called Arab Spring resulted in ouster of four important governments, and several others were challenged. According to political experts, the Persian Gulf region is apt for a new weave of uprisings that could topple the US puppet regimes.
Can these crisis-ridden regimes help each other?
Dear friends! It is cooperation that will shape the future, while escalatory strategies and racism will ruin it. If we condemn the US and Europeans for racism, we should not adopt such stances ourselves and fuel ethnicism in the region. Borders in Asia should be turned into friendship and cooperation boundaries. We should do our best to uproot ethnicism and its dire effects from Asia and our region.
Belonging to a certain ethnicity should not move us towards prejudice. It is through cooperation and refraining from ethnicism that we could reach to power and take the opportunity to shape the future world. Borders should only be indictors of our identity and not a cause for disputes. The Holly Quran Says:
وَاعتَصِموا بِحَبلِ اللَّهِ جَميعًا وَلا تَفَرَّقوا ۚ وَاذكُروا نِعمَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيكُم إِذ كُنتُم أَعداءً فَأَلَّفَ بَينَ قُلوبِكُم فَأَصبَحتُم بِنِعمَتِهِ إِخوانًا وَكُنتُم عَلىٰ شَفا حُفرَةٍ مِنَ النّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِنها
At the end, I would like to express my gratitude to the participants of the conference and appreciate your patience for listening to my paper.