The Unsettling Global Chaos: The Impact of the Gaza Conflict on International Relations
A recent image from Gaza depicted a US-provided bomb exploding, with the silhouette of eight parachutes delivering US aid in the same vicinity. This image could serve as a fitting representation of the global chaos that the six-month-long Gaza conflict has created. This chaos lacks a dominant force, a guiding value system, or effective institutions.
Major powers are engaged in a complex dance of competition, coexistence, and confrontation across the region. However, none of these powers, including the UN, can enforce their version of order. As journalist Gregg Carlstrom aptly put it in Foreign Affairs, "The Middle East is nonpolar. No one is in charge."
According to Heraclitus, wars are the progenitors of all things. Many believe that this conflict will shape the future and mark a turning point in their favor. Iran's President, Ebrahim Raisi, is of the opinion that the US is closer to being expelled from Iraq than at any other time in the past two decades. He also believes that the Gaza conflict will lead to a "transformation in the unjust order that rules the world". Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Iran's ally Hezbollah, has declared the beginning of a "new historical phase" for the entire Middle East. He predicts that Israel will not be able to withstand the "al-Aqsa flood".
On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, two days after the Hamas massacre in Israel that sparked the conflict, promised that the region would change in Israel's favor. "What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations," he stated.
Half a year later, no party believes they have lost. In the midst of these divergent views, China and Russia are not merely observers but are not taking any action to alleviate US discomfort. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, always ready to seize an opportunity, blamed the US's handling of Israeli-Palestinian relations for the current situation. He stated, "It was Washington's policy of monopolising mediation and undermining the international legal framework for a settlement that resulted in the current escalation.
News Agencies