The myth of multipolarity: Are we descending into a new dark age?
Multipolarity is all the rage today. But those who promote multipolarity most enthusiastically are either disingenuous or delusional. The unipolar moment of U.S. hegemony is certainly over. What is emerging, however, is not multipolarity but rather an old form of bipolarity. Not the bipolarity of the Cold War, during which the U.S. and Soviet Union led two rival camps competing for global dominance, but a more ancient and what might be called primordial bipolarity.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
a day ago
- Japan Today
Zelensky urges allies to seek 'regime change' in Russia
By Sergii VOLSKYI, Daria ANDRIIEVSKA, with Anna HOLLINGSWORTH in Helsinki Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday urged his allies to bring about "regime change" in Russia, hours after a Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv killed 16 people including a six-year-old boy. The overnight strikes reduced part of a nine-storey apartment block in Kyiv's western suburbs to rubble and wounded at least 150 people in the capital, authorities said. The Russian army meanwhile claimed to have captured Chasiv Yar, a strategically important hillside town in eastern Ukraine where the two sides have been fiercely fighting for months. Moscow has stepped up its deadly aerial assaults on Ukraine in recent months, resisting US pressure to end its nearly three-and-a-half-year invasion as its forces grind forward on the battlefield. Speaking virtually to a conference marking 50 years since the signing of the Cold War-era Helsinki Accords, Zelensky said he believed Russia could be "pushed" to stop the war. "But if the world doesn't aim to change the regime in Russia, that means even after the war ends, Moscow will still try to destabilise neighbouring countries," he said. Kyiv bombarded From late Wednesday to early Thursday, Russia fired over 300 drones and eight cruise missiles at Ukraine, with Kyiv the main target, the Ukrainian air force said. One missile tore through a nine-storey residential building in the west of the capital, ripping off its facade, authorities said. AFP journalists at the scene saw rescuers scouring through a smouldering mound of broken concrete, the belongings of residents scattered among the debris. "It's a shock. I still can't get my bearings. It's very frightening," Valentyna Chestopal, a 28-year-old resident of Kyiv, told AFP. Among the victims was a six-year-old boy who died on the way to hospital, the head of the city's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, posted on Telegram. Zelensky said late Thursday that over 150 people had been injured, "including 16 children and six policemen", denouncing the "unimaginable scale of terror and brutality" of the Russian strikes. The Russian army said it had hit a military airfield, ammunition warehouse and drone production facilities with a combined overnight strike using weaponry and drones. The attack came just days after US President Donald Trump issued a 10-day ultimatum for Moscow to halt its invasion, now in its fourth year, or face sanctions. Trump on Thursday blasted Russia's actions in Ukraine, suggesting that new sanctions against Moscow were coming. "Russia -- I think it's disgusting what they're doing. I think it's disgusting," Trump told journalists. "We're going to put sanctions," he said, before adding: "I don't know that sanctions bother him," referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Key capture in east Russia said Thursday that it had captured the town of Chasiv Yar, a strategically important military hub for Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donetsk region. Zelensky called Moscow's claim "Russian disinformation", saying that "Ukrainian units are defending our positions." Ukrainian military analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko said Russian forces "have full control over the entire northern and eastern part" of Chasiv Yar, including districts that had been hardest to get. But he said fighting for the western side was ongoing, with the situation "very difficult". Taking control of Chasiv Yar would be a major military gain for Russia, which has been making steady territorial gains for months. Home to around 12,000 people before the war but now largely destroyed, the town could allow Russian forces to advance on remaining civilian strongholds in the eastern Donetsk region. The Kremlin has made the capture of the Donetsk region a priority since it claimed the industrial region as part of Russia in September 2022. Anti-corruption bill overturned Thursday's attacks came just hours before Ukrainian lawmakers overturned a highly criticised law, signed by Zelensky last week, that would have curbed the powers of two anti-graft bodies. Zelensky reversed course after the legislation sparked the biggest public unrest in Ukraine since Russia's invasion began in February 2022. The original law had put the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) under the direct authority of the prosecutor general, who is appointed by the president. Critics took to the streets in protest, saying the move would facilitate presidential interference in corruption probes. The European Union said the bill could derail anti-corruption reforms that are key for joining the bloc. © 2025 AFP
Nikkei Asia
a day ago
- Nikkei Asia
Singapore beefs up defense clout while targeting diplomatic anchor role
SINGAPORE -- At a time of proliferating regional conflicts and worries over fraying global security alliances, Southeast Asia's "poisonous shrimp" Singapore is buying some more venom. In an echo of former leader Lee Kuan Yew's 1960's doctrine of self-preservation at the height of the Cold War, the city-state ordered two new tactical submarines earlier this year. That will expand its fleet by 50% in a move that -- as things stand -- will see its six submarines outnumbering or equaling those of much larger regional players like Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Yomiuri Shimbun
3 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
MAGA Leader Steve Bannon Says ‘1st Island Chain' Set by China Is Major Strategic Focus for U.S., in Interview
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump's former close aide Steve Bannon told The Yomiuri Shimbun that the United States should not intervene in the affairs of Europe and the Middle East. Bannon, who is referred to by CNN as the leader of the president's Make America Great Again movement, also said the area that the Chinese military calls the 'first island chain,' which includes Japan and Taiwan, is a major strategic focus for the United States, and efforts should be made to deny China's influence. The first military strategic defense line stretches from the East China Sea south of Kyushu to the Philippines and the South China Sea. The Chinese military regards the area from the Ogasawara Islands to Saipan and Guam as the 'second island chain.' China set the lines to prevent U.S. military intervention in the event of contingencies in the Taiwan Strait and other areas. The MAGA movement is led by Trump's core supporters who are known for their restrictive stance on U.S. intervention in other countries. 'We're adamantly opposed to the Ukraine war because it's on the Eurasian landmass where we have no vital national security interest,' Bannon said during a phone interview. He added that Ukraine is 'trying to inexorably get us drawn into that war.' Regarding the situation in the Middle East, he said: 'We're so opposed to a regime change war in the Middle East really conjured up by Israel…. The United States will be sucked in for 25 years.' Drawing on the experiences of the United States' military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, which turned into quagmires, Bannon appeared to believe that Washington should avoid being forced to bear long-term burdens through the involvements. In contrast, Bannon demonstrated strong hostility toward China. Bannon served as an officer of the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet from 1977 to 1980 and engaged in the patrolling of the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. He said he thinks the possibility is high that China will invade Taiwan in 2027, when Beijing is said to be aiming to acquire the capability to invade Taiwan. 'I think 2027 is a very dangerous year unless Japan, the United States and [South] Korea start acting in unison as allies,' he said. While stating that the United States should withdraw from large-scale military deployments in Eurasia, he emphasized the country should have expeditionary force capabilities. He said that the capability to end combat quickly 'is the type of thing that we want our money to go into.' Regarding Trump's strategy toward Russia, Bannon said it was to do the reverse of what former U.S. President Richard Nixon did, when he normalized the United States' diplomatic relations with China to hold in check the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Bannon believes that Trump is focused on getting a rapprochement with Russia despite his frustration with Moscow. He said it is important to pull Russia out of China's orbit. 'If the United States is not successful at that, we're going to have a century of conflict,' he said. Bannon said the United States will face even greater challenges if China and Russia become closer. Bannon said that he shares these views with Trump. Regarding policy toward China, Bannon said: 'I'm full on for decoupling immediately [from the Chinese economy]. And then, let the Chinese people do the work of overthrowing them.' However, he said that Trump does not support this policy.
