New York Times: “A Titanic Geopolitical Struggle Is Underway.” Although I do not see a Third World War as others tend to blabber, an intense contest is hot and high brought by realignments in the geopolitical power grid. Response to U.S. call to sanction Russia per Ukraine invasion offered hint. Except for the West, all others snubbed the military aid wagon trail. Then comes Israel’s Gaza annihilation, which engages not really the terror groups but the Arab League.
Before the Oct 7 Hamas attack of Israel, realignment was already up. China brokered a Saudi Arabia/Iran fist-bump. Syria returned to the Arab League. The bigger jolt to the West: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined mighty China, Russia and India in the BRICS bloc. Suddenly, G7’s formidable fort starts to wobble. Yet the real contest is economics, not military.
THE West: G7 or Group of Seven (G7): Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. Economics, the U.S. and Europe control the I.M.F. and World Bank. <>The East: BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa + new members Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, and Ethiopia. China heads the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
WEST. Military collective NATO is basically Europe or G7 sans Japan, though Japan hosts the 3rd largest number of U.S. troops abroad.
EAST, essentially trade based. China’s four state-owned banks are the largest banks in the world: Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. China also presides over the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which includes Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. RCEP is The largest trade bloc in history, so far. BRICS’ Saudi Arabia is the de facto leader of the Arab League, with 22 member-countries. ☮️☮️☮️
