Full article: https://www.newsclick.in/civilisation-crisis-imperialism-war-new-international-order
Whether humanity can move beyond a system organised around war, profit, and domination, and instead construct an equitable international order, remains one of the most pressing questions of the 21st century.
Summery of article
The article argues that the world is facing a deep civilizational crisis marked by wars, widening inequality, ecological destruction, and mass displacement—symptoms of contradictions within global capitalism. Since World War II, the integration of economic power, militarism, and geopolitics through alliances, corporations, and financial institutions has entrenched a global order driven by profit and domination rather than peace and prosperity.
The rise of the military-industrial complex, first warned about by Eisenhower, has turned war preparation into a permanent economic feature, with global military spending surpassing $2.7 trillion in 2024, led by the US and NATO. Postwar imperialist interventions—from Iraq and Libya to Ukraine and Gaza—reflect struggles over resources and strategic control, leaving behind mass casualties, instability, and over 123 million displaced people worldwide.
Economically, the system is sustained through unequal development, where MNCs extract wealth from the Global South via resource exploitation, debt dependency, and unfair trade. Institutions like the IMF and World Bank, under the liberal international order, have reinforced these imbalances through austerity and privatization policies.
Amid this backdrop, the world is shifting toward multipolarity, with groupings such as BRICS and initiatives like the New Development Bank aiming to reduce dependency on the West. India’s position is examined critically—its growing strategic ties with powers like Israel raise questions about its commitment to the Non-Aligned Movement ideals of peace, autonomy, and solidarity with developing nations.
The article concludes that overcoming the current crisis requires restructuring the global economy—curbing militarism, restoring economic sovereignty in the Global South, democratizing resource control, and building international solidarity. The wars in Gaza and Ukraine are seen as manifestations of an unsustainable capitalist system, and the moral challenge for humanity is to construct a just and cooperative world order beyond profit-driven imperialism.
*The writer, an economics professor and author, is currently engaged in research on Sustainable Economic Development, Political Economy of the Global South, and India’s Socioeconomic Crisis. The views are personal. acpuum@gmail.com.
Source- newsclick.in, 9 March, 2025.
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