The era of US dominance is fast coming to a close and thanks to Donald Trump. His arrogance has isolated the US from its western allies including Australia, UK and Canada. Even the countries that form NATO which have been insulted by Trump in the recent tariff negotiations are seeing no reason to align with Trump in the current conflict with Iran.
The US needs to announce its closure of its bases around the world. The bombing and destruction of its bases in the Gulf States demonstrate clearly that the US cannot defend these countries and that their security lies with a friendly relationship with Iran and other rising powers. The members of NATO in eastern Europe and especially Ukraine, should learn from this fiasco and bring to an end its conflict with Russia.
The Europeans are witnessing a US in decline and hence their negotiation of trade deals with rising powers such as India. No longer are the foreign policies of Europe tied to the US and more so under the presidency of Donald Trump. Not surprisingly, the Europeans have declined to intervene in the impasse at the Strait of Hormuz, at least not to be seen allied with a declining US.
It is energy that is dictating the war and not weaponry. By controlling the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is holding the major economies of the world to ransom. This would mean the loss of trillions of dollars and the collapse of the capital market. If the war does not stop and the Strait of Hormuz remains shut, it would result in the disruption of major economies.
It would also mean that China and Russia would remain unscathed given their access to oil. India’s neutrality in the international world would not only help her to access oil from the Strait of Hormuz but also position her as the best candidate to negotiate peace and bring to an end this threat to economic decline and destruction.
The arrogance of the western powers, especially the US, must be viewed as a relic of the past. This imperialistic policy has shackled the free world with a culture of exploitation, poverty and indebtedness and when resisted with invasions, and regime change. The US-Iran conflict has revealed that dominance is no longer hinged solely with military might but tied to the economy. By Iran holding the flow of oil from the Strait of Hormuz to ransom, the world is awakening to the reality of global interdependence.
No longer can regions align along racial and cultural identities, but must embrace strong and dynamic economies to bring prosperity to its citizens. Without the oil from the Gulf States, our modern economies cannot survive. This US-Iran conflict has certainly confirmed this reality. Isreal and Hamas must now accept that the battle fields are not the answers to all problems.
With the US-Iran conflict not coming to an end, the world is awakening to the value of diplomacy as a first effort toward finding solutions for international differences. The era of gunboat diplomacy has ended, thanks to the resolve of the Iranian people and their leaders. Though a middle power, the Iranians have stood tall and refused to cave in to the dictates of Donald Trump.
As for the Caribbean, our future is linked to the US. However, it would be best for our leaders to focus on development and less on dependency. Citizens must be given the knowledge and skills to produce goods and services and not be fooled into believing that their future is linked to a US Visa and Green Card.
Historically, the US has done little to develop the economies of the Caribbean islands. Resources such as oil and gas, bauxite and other minerals and plantations have all been subjected to the exploitation by US multi-nationals. Such exploitations have been resisted by a Cheddi Jagan and a Fidel Castro only to be met with political chaos and the overthrowing of their governments. The twenty-eight years of Burnham dictatorship was propped up by the US, much to the detriment of the Guyanese people.
Giving a few Guyanese Green Cards and declaring a street in Queens, New York “Little Guyana” does not take away from the US actively aiding and abetting in the rape, beating and murder of Indo-Guyanese by their Afro-Guyanese neighbors in what is known as the Wismar Massacre on May 24-26, 1964.
It is no shock that the Arab States are siding with the Americans. Historically, both cultures have made conquest, plunder and loot their modus operandi. This mind set must be put to rest now and forever. The Iranians are not Pakistanis to live like slaves to the Arabs. They are conscious of their historical past rooted in the Persian Empire with their own language and world view.
Now that Trump has met his Waterloo, the new world order would definitely usher an era of peace, cooperation and sustained economic development not for a few nations but for all of humanity. Trump had fulfilled a historical reality… stretch your conquest too far, and you collapse. The reality is that Iran is not Grenada for the US to invade and humiliate at will!