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| Tuesday, 6 July 2004 |
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An inherently unstable world order by Lynn Ockersz The test-firing of nuclear capable missiles by both India and Pakistan, even while renewing negotiatory efforts to defuse inter-state tensions, points to how complex an enterprise it is to define the current international order.
Given the conflicting trends in the international system - regional bloc formation, for example, accompanied by gestures by the more powerful individual States, emphasizing their sovereign independence and selfhood - the world system could be said to be in a state of flux or in a process of "becoming", although a general drift towards "multipolarity" or the establishment of a multiplicity of power centres in the world, cannot be denied. What prompts this fresh probing of the world system are recent reports of the test firing of nuclear-capable missiles by regional giants India and Pakistan. The news from India is that it has successfully test-fired a 700 kilometre range, surface-to-surface Agni missile. Last month, Pakistan had reportedly test-fired the Hatf V, ballistic missile with a 1500 Km range. The Indo-Pakistani arms race seems to be on as usual, even as a defrosting of strained bilateral ties takes hold. All this points to the fact that the sovereign-state based international system is continuing to assert itself despite even some of the biggest of powers recognizing the predominance of the US and even acting out of deference to it in particular and the Western military alliance in general. For instance, both India and Pakistan thought it best to cooperate with the US-led alliance in its fight against "global terror". The US-led military incursion of Iraq did take place, some initial reservations from major Western military powers, France and Germany, notwithstanding. These "unipolar" trends, notwithstanding, "multipolarity" seems to be an essential characteristic of the world order with even dominant regional powers such as India and Pakistan asserting their sovereign right to bolster their defence capabilities, seemingly ignoring US anxieties over a nuclear confrontation in South Asia. Interestingly, the recent 50th anniversary celebrations of the "Panchsheel" doctrine by China also seems to underscore the continuing centrality of what has been described as the sovereign state in the world system. The Panchsheel doctrine which China entered into with India in 1954, emphasized, among other things, the need for "mutual respect" of each others territorial integrity and sovereignty by States. It also highlights, mutual benefit, equality and peaceful cooperation among States. While, on the one hand, China is seeking to stress its peaceful intentions towards the world, by re-emphasizing Panchsheel, it is also nudging the world into recognizing States as the building blocks of the international system. Implied in this position is China's assertion of itself as an independent power in the world system. This world view emerges as an anthithesis to the conceptualization of the world as a US-centric system. The current international system, therefore, defies easy definition although there is no denying the fact multipolarity or the existence of a multiplicity of power centres, is one of its essential features. The conclusion is also inescapable that such an order of things is inherently unstable and has within it the seeds of conflict on a number of fronts. It is a world in which the principles of unipolarity and multipolarity seem to be in constant strife. |
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