A world spiralling out of control

The global order is crumbling rapidly.

- ACHYUT WAGLE

It appears nowhere near the Schumpeterian idea of creative destruction; Jacques Derrida's deconstruction theory, therefore, barely posits the optimism of legendary phoenix-like revival. The global playground of powers is now without a custodian or a referee to stop the ratchet. It is almost axiomatic that the global order is critical to global governance, which is inevitable for global peace and prosperity. In this increasingly interconnected world, societal and national orders are also largely contingent on the global order and the outcome of the geopolitics of the governance, whether good or bad.

The imperative of global governance was desperately realised in the 1940s after the two devastating Great Wars. As a result, essentially, the United Nations (UN), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT, now WTO) and similar other multilateral institutions were established. So far, hundreds of international treaties, conventions and covenants have been drafted and implemented or enforced, at least in theory. However, due to the rapidly widening gap between expectation and (in)effectiveness (or helplessness?), these institutions and instruments, mainly the UN and its agencies, are now being questioned regarding the rationale of their very existence.

The end of the Russia-Ukraine war is nowhere on the horizon. Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be consolidating his legitimacy through forums like BRICS. Economic sanctions on Russia by Western countries have had little impact due to the unhindered revenue flow from oil and gas supplied to Europe and Asia. The Gaza crisis is spreading to the entire Arab world and, perhaps, beyond. The foreign policy of the United States on Gaza and Israel seems pressed between its interest in protecting the Israeli state and saving its democratic credentials by stopping inhuman excesses at the Israeli war targets.