The U.S. unipolar world was great while it lasted — for Americans, at least, if not for places like Libya and Iraq.
The dollar was powerful, the world embraced everything America with open arms, and English was the de facto global medium of communication.
The latter may still hold true for some time, because Chinese is not only extremely cryptic for a foreigner to untangle but also horrendously grating on the ears. If goats could talk, it would sound like Mandarin.
But the former two — the powerful dollar and American hegemony — are going the way of the buffalo as more and more countries jump ship for BRICS.
Many political scientists, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, gleefully declared an “end to history” in the sense that there would be no more great geopolitical power structure now that the U.S. had cemented its global domination.
They were wrong.
The age of multipolarism is upon us. And, if, like me, you deal in dollars, we’re all probably going to be feeling it close to home in due time.
Related: De-Dollarization: The Death Knell For US Hegemony?
Via Belfer Center (emphasis added):
“The conventional wisdom among U.S. grand strategists is that U.S. hegemony is exceptional—that the United States need not worry about other states engaging in counterhegemonic balancing against it. The case for U.S. hegemonic exceptionalism, however, is weak. Contrary to the predictions of Waltzian balance of power theorists, no new great powers have emerged since the end of the Cold War to restore equilibrium to the balance of power by engaging in hard balancing against the United States—that is, at least, not yet. This has led primacists to conclude that there has been no balancing against the United States. Here, however, they conflate the absence of a new distribution of power in the international political system with the absence of balancing behavior by the major second-tier powers. Moreover, the primacists’ focus on the failure of new great powers to emerge, and the absence of traditional “hard” (i.e., military) counterbalancing, distracts attention from other forms of counter balancing—notably “leash-slipping” —by major second-tier states that ultimately could lead to the same result: the end of unipolarity. Because unipolarity is the foundation of U.S. hegemony, if it ends, so too will U.S. primacy.”
The most recent mutineer is Turkey, rebranded by Erdogan as “Turkiye” as some kind of power move, which is both a crucial geopolitical chokepoint and a NATO member.
Project For a New American Century, eat your heart out.
Via Middle East Monitor (emphasis added):
“In a significant move that could reshape its international alliances, Turkiye has officially applied to join the BRICS group—an economic coalition comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The application signals Ankara’s intent to diversify its foreign policy and economic partnerships amid shifting global dynamics.
The BRICS group, which represents some of the world’s largest emerging economies, has been gaining influence on the global stage, advocating for a multipolar world order and seeking to challenge the dominance of Western-led institutions. Turkiye’s interest in joining BRICS aligns with its broader strategy to assert a more independent role in global affairs, particularly as it navigates complex relationships with both the West and other global powers.
Turkish officials have highlighted the potential benefits of BRICS membership, including enhanced economic cooperation, access to new markets and opportunities for collaboration in key areas such as infrastructure, technology and energy. Turkiye’s strategic location, bridging Europe and Asia and its growing economy, make it a valuable addition to the BRICS bloc.”
Thumbing your nose at a nuclear-armed dying empire run by psychopaths is dangerous business, though, especially during election season, particularly if Mamala and Tampon Tim aren’t doing too hot in the polls.
Ben Bartee is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs.
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