US hastening the shift to a multipolar world

Nothing speaks of the US applying double standards when it comes to respecting international law and UN bodies than its reaction to the International Criminal Court’s issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on war crime charges. The Biden administration was quick to reject the ruling, arguing lack of jurisdiction by the court. President Joe Biden called the decision “outrageous.”

But Republican lawmakers were more belligerent, with Sen. Lindsey Graham threatening America’s allies, such as Canada, the UK, France and Germany, that if they were to cooperate with the court’s ruling, the US would crush their economies. Others called for a bipartisan resolution sanctioning the court and its prosecutor. Graham said that the US would be next on its list if the International Criminal Court was not sanctioned.

This contrasts with the US and Graham cheering the court when it issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Sudan leader Omar Bashir.

The world has been moving slowly from a unipolar to a multipolar reality for years. But Israel’s horrific war on Gaza has accelerated that process. The US has weakened the UN Security Council by exercising its veto power on multiple occasions to derail draft resolutions calling for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza. The fact that many so-called Western liberal democracies defended Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, with some remaining unapologetic today, has strained the rules-based order to breaking point.

There are clear indications that Israel’s horrific military conduct in Gaza under the guise of self-defense has had significant geopolitical implications that can be seen in the erosion of America’s status as the world’s sole superpower. This position was achieved following the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

But the world is deeply polarized again. The Global South no longer sees the West as the defender of universal values and the rule of law. Israel has put itself above the law, but what has made its exceptionalism, as a lawbreaker, the norm is America’s blind support and blatant partiality even before the war on Gaza.

For years, the US, which had appointed itself as the exclusive broker of a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, looked the other way as Israel expanded its illegal settlements in the Occupied Territories, demolished Palestinian homes, killed and imprisoned thousands and imposed an apartheid regime on millions of Palestinians under occupation. Moreover, it used its power in the UNSC to derail any move to hold Israel accountable before the law.

Under the Trump administration, the US went even further by unilaterally recognizing Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem and Syria’s Golan Heights. By doing so, the US itself became a rogue state, violating international law and becoming culpable in Israel’s war crimes.

In the coming months and years, it is almost a done deal that the US will give the go-ahead for Israel to annex the West Bank, and maybe Gaza as well, and kill any prospect for a Palestinian state. All this would be illegal under international law and UN resolutions.

In addition to the diverging international response to the war on Gaza, with the US today standing almost alone in its explicit support of Israel’s actions, Washington’s indifference to the position of its allies has diminished its moral authority and diplomatic influence in certain regions, particularly the Middle East and the Global South.

The war has exposed limitations in the current UN system, particularly the Security Council, potentially accelerating calls for reform to better reflect a multipolar world order. Countries like Brazil, South Africa, Russia, India and Turkiye are echoing such calls.

The US has been losing its global hegemony for a number of reasons, such as the meteoric rise of China as an economic and military power, the birth of new Global South coalitions and blocs, such as BRICS and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the emergence of regional powers like Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Indonesia.

Furthermore, the increasing global reach of non-Western cultural influences and media is challenging the dominance of traditional Western soft power. The proliferation of diverse media sources and social media platforms has challenged traditional Western-dominated narratives about global conflicts, reflecting a more multipolar information landscape.

It is not only America’s global dominance that is eroding. The EU is seeing an unprecedented shift in public sentiments toward the far right, which is dominated by euroskeptics, anti-immigration populist figures and Islamophobic policies. These political undercurrents will weaken the bloc’s global influence as it faces existential challenges.

In the Middle East, countries are distancing themselves from confrontational American policies, such as Washington’s rivalry with China and Russia. This is evident in Saudi Arabia’s opening to Moscow and Beijing, while maintaining a close working relationship with the US based on what best serves its national interest. Turkiye and Iran are also keeping all lines open as they forge new alliances based on the shared interests of the neighborhood.

The shift toward a multipolar world is a reality that coincides with the eclipse of US global hegemony and Trump’s “America First” policy. As America turns inward, its global dominance will diminish. Moreover, its audacious challenges of the rules-based order will accelerate the drive toward a collapse of the post-Second World War entities that the US helped build.

But the path toward a multipolar world remains fraught with challenges. Unresolved conflicts will test the existing global system, while new ones may pave the way for the birth of fresh alliances and platforms of regional cooperation.

• Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. X: @plato010