In 2006, the relations between the world's big powers featured a
mixture of cooperation and competition. Amid constant interaction,
the big powers have employed various means to keep a relative
balance between such subtle relations.
US unilateralism VS international
multilateralism
As the only superpower on the world stage, the United States has
been bogged down by a resurging violence spree in Iraq. With
skyrocketing military expenses, the US casualties also soared. By
now, the US death toll in Iraq has reached 3,000.
On other issues, such as Iran's nuclear standoff, Taliban's
insurgence in Afghanistan and the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue,
unilateralism long practiced by the Bush administration has also
suffered setbacks.
Against such a backdrop, the Bush administration has shifted, if
not totally scrapped, its go-it-alone approach to more dialogues
and consultations with other countries.
As another player wielding a significant influence in the
world's political landscape, the European Union, a bloc now
consisting of 27 members, has been more actively involved in
international affairs as a single entity.
Deutsche Welle said in a Dec. 5 broadcast that the EU has been
promoting effective multilateralism and improving the EU-US and
EU-Russian relations. The ultimate goal for the bloc is to speak
with one single voice.
Russia, on the other end of the world political spectrum, has
been trying to regain its influence in the Central Asian region. As
President Vladimir Putin said in a recent television address, the
Russian government has taken the issue as one of its
priorities.
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On the one hand, Russia has used all means at its disposal,
including high-level exchanges of visit and consolidating economic
cooperation, to strengthen its links with the former Soviet
republics.
On the other hand, Russia also engaged itself actively in
negotiations on the Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, Iran's nuclear
standoff and the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, in a bid to regain
its waning influence after the former Soviet Union collapsed.
As an important country in Asia, Japan also tried to show itself
in a new light. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited China
and South Korea in October and conducted frequent bilateral talks
with leaders of other Asian countries on the sidelines of the
November APEC summit in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Cooperation coupled with competition
With the development of political multilateralism and economic
globalization, the world powers' interests have been more
intertwined, which forced them to cooperate more frequently with
each other.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, Iran's nuclear standoff and
the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue helped promote the trend. In
2006, the big powers engaged in intense diplomacy in a bid to
settle disputes. Shared interests and common threats were two
driving forces behind the cooperative trend.
On another front, the countries also faced common threats from
economic insecurity, infectious diseases, natural disasters, drug
smuggling, cross-border crimes, environment pollution and
population expansion, all of which forced the world powers to
cooperate more closely.
Meanwhile, alongside the cooperation, an undercurrent of
competition remains. Based on the strategic concerns over
geo-politics and energy security, the big powers have started a
power game in Central Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin
America and Africa.?????
Unconventional diplomacy favored
Apart from traditional diplomatic means, the big powers have
shifted part of their efforts to focus on unconventional diplomacy,
characterized by cooperation in energy, economy and cultural
exchanges.
For example, Russia played the energy card when dealing with
international relations in 2006. As the world faces a global energy
shortage, Russia has realized that energy would play an
ever-important role in fine-tuning and dealing with its relations
with other countries.
The year of culture came as another important factor among
unconventional diplomacy, which helped deepen understanding and
mutual trust between the countries.
To summarize, amid all the hustle and bustle in the world's
political landscape, one thing is certain that the world's powers
will continue along the irreversible path of cooperation while
jostling for their own interests and power.?
(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2007)
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