THE colonial world inculcated anti-Western instincts simply because the West controlled the lands that belonged to the Third World (TW).
These instincts were fuelled by the unspeakable transfer of wealth from the colonies and the violent brutalities meted out to colonial people. For example, Germany conceded that it committed genocide in Namibia.

After World War II, a weakened European hegemony saw the demand for sovereignty by TW countries, including two of the world’s largest countries – India and China. The United States, insulated from the ravishes of WW2 replaced Europe as the dominant power in the world.

But anti-Western sentiments born out of colonial subjugation remained neatly intact because the US simply replaced European hegemony with its own obsessive control of the world. The US brutally put down nationalist struggles in the TW, that it equated with communism. The examples are too many to mention, but Jane Sillery’s book on Cheddi Jagan and the Cold War is good for understanding the US role after WW2.

With the rise of the USSR as a world power, post-colonial Africa and Asia saw the USSR as a friend because the US and a resurgent Europe embraced unpopular TW governments and showed the old intent of wanting to control the world. The West’s support for the apartheid regime is perhaps the second lowest point in the West’s relationship with the TW after WW2.

From the date of decolonisation to the collapse of the Non-Aligned Movement around 1980, the West, led by the US, dominated the post-colonial world through trade, control of multi-lateral institutions, and geopolitical subterfuge. The hegemony of the West became absolute with the fall of the USSR. There was no space for maneuverability for the Global South. It was if colonialism had returned but with the US in front and not Europe.

We are now seeing the decline of both the US and Europe and the catalyst for this evolution is the rise of China. It would be misleading to say that the emergence of China as a superpower is directly related to the fading glory of the US. What is happening to the US is a result of the laws of history. Simply put –empires rise and fall and then wither away.

The peoples of the world must understand that with the rise of China, the world has returned to the era in the relationship between the TW and the USSR. China has now taken on the role of friend of the Global South. This is worrying to the West because China is not the emasculated, poor superpower that the USSR was in the 1970s.

China is literally the world’s giant and can match anything the West throws at it. For this reason, all, not many, of the think-tanks and international relations schools close to the American military and the American government have been advising the US armed forces and the American government that China poses a clear and present danger to American power in the world.

The influence of China is rising faster than the seed of light because China is using economic muscles and not military presence to win over the Global South. For example, the governments of Suriname and Guyana have approached China for assistance for a bridge linking the two countries. It is curious why the US, facing a ubiquitous China, should not build the bridge.

Parallel with the increasing global presence of China is the self-destructive directions of Europe and the US since Israel invaded Gaza last October and perpetuated genocide. There is no way since WW2 the West would have allowed another country to do what Israel is doing in Gaza.

What Israel is doing in Gaza is because the West, in a holistic way, has a philosophical embrace of Israel.
But the contradiction is avoidable. The West cannot support Israel yet preserve its role in the world; that role has been severely weakened by the genocide and war crimes of Israel that the West refuses to acknowledge.

First, no Western country has admitted that genocide has taken place in Gaza. Secondly, a majority of Western countries, led by the US have rejected the ICC arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister.

Thirdly, the authoritarian use of force to put down multi-racial protest in solidarity with Palestine has shown the Global South that these Western countries are not as democratic as they profess. Fourthly, the image of Western journalism, with its crass, unprofessional reporting on Gaza, permanently damaged Western journalism in the world.

It is so tragic that it took the deaths of 35,000 Palestinians to open our eyes to what the West was like all these years.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.