Global power chessboard

Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to normalise diplomatic relations. It shocked everyone, and the world is grappling to understand how archrivals suddenly came to an agreement.

The answer is simple. It is a result of calm and steady diplomacy of China. There was nodrum-beating. It is an excellent example of low profile, objective-oriented and principle-based diplomacy.

Now, KSA and Iran are putting efforts to make their initiative successful and fruitful. When the foreign ministers of both the countries succeeded in establishing contacts, King Salman extended invitation to President Ebrahim to visit KSA which he has accepted.

It is expected both the countries will devise formula for peaceful co-existence which can help them pursue dream of sustainable development, peace and prosperity of their people. Thus, it is dubbed as game-changing event.

President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia is another game-changing event which happened last week. Xi visit conveyed three messages to the world. First, it shows two great powers can co-exist and live in peace as neighbours. They can pursue the dream of sustainable development and peace without senseless competition for hegemonic power.

It indicates China and Russia have learned from their history. As we know, China-Russia relationship has a history of ups and own. Russia, as USSR, tried to show muscles to China but could not achieve anything. Further, disintegration of USSR helped Russia learn rivalry is non-productive and the Chinese formula of peaceful co-existence is beneficial for both countries.

In nutshell, they concluded peaceful co-existence is the best way to work for the prosperity of people.Second, the visit indicates the world is no more unipolar, rather multipolar, and the process has been further accelerated. Thus, major powers need to accept the reality and come out of mentality of superiority. Hegemonic aspirations have no space in the multipolar world. If any major power tries to become hegemonic it will be on self-destruction path.

Now, the world must say goodbye to hegemonic aspirations. For that purpose, they need to work together and devise formula for peaceful co-existence which must respect diversity, integrity and sovereignty. In this context, best possible way would be to follow the philosophy of win-win cooperation.

Third, another important message of President Xi visit to Russia is that major powers can build bilateral relationship without targeting other countries. For building partnerships, there is no need of enemies or opponents.

Unfortunately, some countries are not ready to accept this reality and are trying to keep themselves busy in building alliances. They deem it necessary to control the world for extracting maximum benefits. They are using their position to get strengthened in the global system to reverse the process of multipolarity. It has triggered a new competition, rather, race for dominance.

This mentality has even engaged countries which were considered peaceful with no offensive interests. Japan is most prominent example on this front. Japan has joined hands with the US, Nato and West to reverse the process of multipolarity. It is playing role of frontline ally in Asia, especially in South-East Asia, to check the peaceful rise of China. Japan is pitching itself as counterweight to China.

Japan was transforming itself for this role for some time. It started the process in 2013 with the launch of National Security Strategy (NSS), National Defence Strategy (NDS) and Defence Buildup Programme (DBP).

In a bid to further expand the scope of security, Japan refined NSS in December 2022, and made it more aggressive by focusing on China. Under this policy shift, Japan would be spending $320 billion in next five years on defence. Further, Japan is planning to enhance defence spending up to 2% of its GDP. It is anticipated that Japan will be buying 500 missiles from the US along with other weapons. It means military-industrial complex of the US will make good money.

On the other hand, Japan is striving to build alliances. Fumio Kishida, PM of Japan, travelled to Europe and the US for that purpose. He has signed two big agreements in last two months. The first agreement was with UK with focus on deployment of soldiers on each other soil, training and close cooperation on Asia-Pacific policy. The other agreement was on extension of cooperation between

Japan and the US. Japan is already hosting 54,000 American troops and paying heavy fee for it.

Now, both the countries are planning to enhance cooperation in the field of military, cybersecurity and outer space. The US will be sending more anti-ship missiles. QUAD is another alliance where Japan is closely working with the US, Australia and India to contain China.

From the above discussion, it can be inferred that major powers are playing tactics to consolidate their positions. It is expected the competition will intensify. It may lead to conflict. Russia-Ukraine crisis is one example on this front. Now, the US is trying to engage China in conflict through Taiwan. Let’s hope the US would not be successful in kick-starting a new conflict because the world cannot afford such thing between China and the US. It will prove disastrous.

It is advisable that major power should not turn chessboard into a battle ground. They should concentrate on peaceful means of competition, rather win-win cooperation. It would be a great favour to humanity.