M. Abdullah Hamid Gul
The dreadful and tragic defeat of the United States in Afghanistan, the economic downturn, tensions in trans-Atlantic relations, the withdrawal from Kabul and the lack of coordination with allies have made the beginning of Biden’s era bitter among capitals across Europe, from London to Berlin.
The deployment of German troops on Afghan soil was Germany’s first major combat missionafter World War II, but the way it ended was deeply disappointing for them. That is why the earlier soft corner for Joe Biden among Europeans was turning bitter now.
TheUnited States is deeply entangled in thestrategy resorted by it to protect its interests, with the help of allies.
Europe’s small but peaceful and beautiful countries, which were held hostage by the United States out of fear of Russia, are now emerging from its spell. On the other hand, China has now gained a clear edgein the global power struggle.
For the first time in history, the United States is facing a rival in the form of China, whose economy will sooner or later catch up with it. The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States lasted nearly 40 years.
However, the Soviet economy never grew beyond 40 percent of the American economy.
Thus, the United States had a clear advantage over it, but the case of China is different.
China is still at par with the United States in many ways; especially its consumer market being the world’s largest.Similarly, China’s foreign exchange reserves are slightly lower than those of the United States.
Fearing China’s growing influence in the region, Washington seeks China’s encirclement and to prevent theeconomic corridor “One Belt One Road” project from being completed through new alliances and agreements. China is the only country in the world that shares a border with 14 countries.
If China uses Indian maritime borders to trade with the Middle East, Southern Europe and African countries, it has to travel a long distance, but when the goods are delivered to the port of Gwadar by train in Pakistan via CPEC, it will save about 10,000 km, besides a month’s time. CPEC is as important for Chinaas the Suez Canal, so CPEC can also be called a dry Suez Canal.
In the global context, if we focus on the foreign policies of the United States and the United Kingdom, both want to counter China’s growing economic and military power. The United States is setting up groups and forums that can help it compete with China.
The United Kingdom (UK)also wants to do the same, but is cautious because of Brexit.
Despite the bitter rhetoric she (UK) has made in recent years, she prefers ??reconciliation with China rather than animosity. UK is well aware that China is an emerging power that cannot be stopped by force, but military agreements such as the AUKUS and the Quad are links in the same vicious circle.
The “Quad” is an organization of four countries, comprising the United States, Australia, India and Japan.
The “AUKUS” includes the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Even a close American ally like France is angry about the AUKUS deal. French President Macron has termed it as a stab in the French back.
Australia’sdefence deal with France was to build 12 nuclear submarines worth 45 billion dollars, but it did not materialize.
It is a new addition to the US betrayal of its allies that France had agreed to supply nuclear submarines to Australia, which the United States and Britain ignored, announcing the supply of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.
Large-scale espionage of European politicians, blocking European supplies following the outbreak of the Corona virus, and ignoring allies during the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan – in all these cases, the United States has in fact harmed its allies.
Under the biased thinking of “America First”, the United States continued to consider its allies as a tool of political interests.
Australia was once China’s largest trading partner, but the United States took advantage of the strained relations between Australia and China and snatched Australia’s export orders to China.
According to an article in the “Australian Dialogue”, the United States is involved in a number of activities that are detrimental to Australian interests, and promoting a US economic alliance against China would be a “blunder” by Australia.
Be it “Quad” or “AUKUS”, the purpose of both is to encircle China. The Quad is basically an organization that was formed in 2007 by the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe along with then US Vice President Dick Cheney, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Later, when the Kevin Road government came to power in Australia, he separated from it after Chinese protest.
However, India, Japan and the United States continued military exercises. AUKUS is a tripartite military alliance aimed at preventing Chinese domination of the Indo-Pacific region and defending post-1945 world order.
The United States is now desperately trying to block China’s emerging power in order to damage its economy and bring down its army, naval, aerospace and space research capabilities.
Under the AUKUS agreement, United States decided to provide state-of-the-art nuclear submarine technology to Australia to counter China’s growing power.
It should be noted that the United States had previously given this advanced technology only once (in 1958) to its closest ally Britain.There are currently three types of submarines in the world.
The first type comprises simple diesel-powered submarines that are equipped with missiles and the second type comprises submarines that run on diesel but are equipped with nuclear weapons and can wreak havoc.
The third type of submarines is powered by nuclear fuel, so it can stay underwater for a very long time.
These can also be armed with nuclear weapons and become very destructive. Because nuclear-powered submarines can stay underwater for long periods of time, they are difficult to locate.
On the other hand, the United States, along with the European Union, is also seeking to launch an economic war against China.
The United States is currently spending trillions of dollars on cyber technology and submarine technology. It wants to drag China in the arms race in the same way.
This dangerous US strategy is increasing the threat of catastrophe to the world, especially the environment.
The United States is now forming an alliance in East Asia against China, rather than in Central or South Asia. In the Indo-PacificSea, SETO has emerged as AUKUS and the Sino-US Cold War has already begun.
This area will now be the center of the New Cold War. Southeast Asia is now militarily and economically central to world foreign policy, with implications not only for the Pacific but also for the states surrounding the Indian Ocean.
