Ahmad Shahir Abdul Aziz
The audacious US operation in Venezuela recently, which resulted in the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro, was a unilateral move that has stunned the international community.
This invasion of a sovereign nation sets a troubling precedent, suggesting that any country might attack another under the guise of combating crime.
Many countries have condemned this action and raised grave concern, describing the US’ unlawful use of force against a sovereign state as a clear violation of international law.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also stressed the same concern, warning that the forcible removal of a sitting head of government through external intervention sets a dangerous precedent.
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Indeed, such a unilateral action carried out by the US is not an isolated incident. The imposition of high tariffs – widely viewed as a violation of World Trade Organization rules – alongside recent assertions of control over Greenland and the Panama Canal, indicates a Washington intent on flexing its muscles to maintain global dominance.
These events raise a critical question: are we returning to a unipolar world where a single superpower dictates the global order, unchallenged by any other state?
History shows that the world cycles through three systems: unipolarity, bipolarity and multipolarity.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the sole superpower.
However, the 21st-Century rise of emerging powers like China signalled a shift towards a multipolar order – one that encourages multilateralism and collective decision-making.
This transition has clearly met with US resistance, leading it to challenge multilateral norms to protect its strategic interests. This includes the 2023 tightening of technology exports, such as the ban on advanced AI chips.
In response, China has accelerated its pursuit of self-sufficiency, notably through its 344bn-yuan “Big Fund” for semiconductors.
Furthermore, these unilateral US actions appear to have emboldened allies like Israel to strike other nations – including Qatar, Iran and Syria – which clearly constitute acts of war and violations of international law.
If unilateralism becomes the global standard, the consequences could be dire. What would stop North Korea from attempting to consolidate the peninsula, or China from forcefully taking over Taiwan to complete the revolution it has sought since 1949?
The current path is dangerous, as it provides a justification for other nations to launch their own brazen invasions.
Dr Ahmad Shahir Abdul Aziz is the chief operating officer of InvestPerak and serves as an adjunct lecturer at University Technology Petronas.
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