In global affairs, the US still acts only in its own best interests

In the two decades since the second Iraq war, the United States appears like the Bourbon kings who had learned nothing and forgotten nothing. The illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq was a story of geopolitical failure and domestic political disaster. To understand the foolhardy decision to launch the war, one must first understand the US grand strategy of global hegemony, pursued by Washington since 1945.

- Randeep Ramesh

The "war on terror" provided political cover for the further pursuit of supremacy, despite threatening democratic government with lies, fraud and violence.

George W Bush's rash actions did provoke some murmurs of concern about the damage being inflicted but these faded from the corridors of power. Instead the US has refused to move on, believing that countries are "either with us or against us".

The key to US strength has been its ability to dominate three regions of the world for security and economic reasons: western Europe, east Asia and the Middle East.

American power depends on preventing the emergence of a dominant rival on the Eurasian landmass or a single power in the Gulf controlling the majority of the world's oil reserves. Nonetheless the present-day coalitions emerging could lead to these outcomes.

History suggests that when one great power becomes too powerful it is defeated by the counter-balancing efforts of the other major powers. Vladimir Putin's unlawful invasion of Ukraine has thrown into sharp relief how differently the conflict is viewed by US allies and the rest of the world. It is the latter's expanding trade with Moscow that helps Russia dodge western sanctions.

This, along with China's rise, has exposed US attempts to maintain its "unipolar" power in the international political system, which it obtained after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989.