ONE day last year, the world woke up to hear that there is a new world order. Since then, governmental leaders of Western geopolitical alliances, leaders of certain NATO countries and the head of a number of EU nations have declared that there is a new world order.
Leading the charge is the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney. Here are his words: “The old order is not coming back…middle powers must act together…. Great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage… Canada was amongst the first to hear the wake-up….”
But why is the Canadian Prime Minister saying there is a new world order? It is simple to understand why Carney made that declaration, because the traditional ally of Canada, the US, decided to put tariffs on Canadian exports to Canada. So, the question is: if the US did not put tariffs on Canada, would there have been a new world order?
If there were no tariffs on Canada, but Iran was bombed, Cuba was invaded, the Panama Canal was taken over, would there have been cries of a new world order? My answer is, I don’t think so. When Iraq was invaded, no Western leader said there was a new world order. When Afghanistan was invaded and occupied for 20 years, there was no exclamation of the old order dying. In fact, Canada sent troops as part of the invading multinational army into Afghanistan.
When Libya was bombed by France and the UK, there was no talk of a new world order. When Syria was bombed and destroyed, there was no talk of a new world order. When Western countries captured suspected terrorists around the world and rendered them at black sites in Canada and Europe in violation of all the laws governing international behaviour, no Western leader had discovered a new world order.
A plane carrying the President of Ecuador was illegally intercepted by the American air force in violation of the laws governing international aviation, thinking Julian Assange was on board, European leaders did not see a new world order in the making and collaborated in denying the plane permission to land in Europe. No European leader spoke of a new world order after that incident.
So why is there a new world and where did it came from? The German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, tried to outdo Carney. He went further than Carney in describing the new world order. Here are his words:” ‘The world has entered an era of great power politics… the new world of the great powers is founded upon power, strength and when necessary, force. It is not a cosy place.”
But when did Herz discover the world was not a cozy place and there is a new world order? The answer lies in the policy of the US Government to put tariffs on goods from the EU countries and the US announcement that it wants to control the European territory of Greenland.
The question, of course, is if the US did not put tariffs on EU nations and threatened to invade Greenland but decided it wanted to take the Panama Canal, invade Venezuela, bomb North Korea, would Merz have declared there is a new world order? Indeed, Merz is right, the world is not a cozy place and Germany has contributed to it not being cozy.
Instead of announcing there was a new world order where might is right when Israel began perpetrating genocide in Gaza, Germany announced support for Israel with Merz broadcasting to the world that Israel is Germany’s reason of state, a philosophical term that the French refer to as raison d’être. The number of 75, 000 Palestinian deaths is now being questioned by Palestinian authorities and may be much higher than the figure.
So, we have a new world order simply because the American president announced some changes to American foreign policy. But ironically, the old world order still remains and the Europeans are part of it. The Africans would tell Merz that indeed the world is not a cozy place because the French were ordered out of two African countries, refused to leave and had to be kicked out.
There is still an old world order where, each day, more Palestinian lands are being taken over by the Israelis and European and Canadian military and financial aid to Israel still continues. Now, if there were a new world order, why is Europe still pursuing the old order of protecting Israel? They may very well be a new world order coming because if Iran is attacked, it will wipe out the state of Israel. I don’t agree with that happening to Israel, but the world is not a cozy place.
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.
