As globalism expands, there are three political blocs that are rising, the non-democratic or authoritarian, which includes Russia and China and their orbit of smaller states, the extremist groups, like the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and Boko Haram, and the democratic nations, like the United States, Europe, Australia, etc.
Conflicts under the rising global order have to do with consolidating power in these three blocs. In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and supported a civil war in Ukraine.
China’s saber rattling toward its neighbors increased in 2014, and the Islamic State took more territory in Iraq and Syria. Meanwhile, the United States is on the defensive as its power is being challenged by the other two blocs.
Expect future conflicts to be aimed at consolidating more power by authoritarian and militant blocs, by chipping away at the hegemony of the democratic bloc.
Russia is busy rebuilding its military power. China is building its military in Asia and is collaborating with Russia both in the Pacific and in the Mediterranean. Russia also maintains close ties with authoritarian regimes like Syria and Iran.
The Islamist and militant bloc’s more recent global reach has already dragged the United States and other democratic nations into an engagement on a limited scale, and it seems that escalation is likely in 2015 and beyond. Terrorist organizations in Africa have offered to join with the Islamic State to promote the aims of the militants in their fight with the United States and Europe and their allies.
The third bloc of democratic nations, including the United States, Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, etc., are under intense pressure from the other two. Democratic nations tend to have inconsistent geopolitical policies because they have shifting political power with each election cycle, which is not the case in authoritarian regimes. As U.S. hegemony wanes the vacuum will give opportunities for the Islamist and authoritarian regions to expand. This gives rise to the aggressiveness of the other two blocs against the U.S. and its allies. Watch for Germany and Europe to get more involved in geopolitics and military engagement.
While Russia takes aim at the democratic states on the periphery of Europe, like Moldova, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and China pushes against America’s allies and interests in the Pacific, the militant bloc is encouraging its supporters within democratic nations to carry out terror attacks within them. Their aim is to dissolve the old world order by striking soft targets. Also, expect more conflicts in the Middle East, which could trigger chain reactions in Asia, Europe and other regions, similar to the way geopolitics developed leading up to World War I and World War II.
Globalization, far from keeping the peace, is the foundation for war as nations jockey for global power and influence in the new world order. The authoritarian global superpowers are rising, and aiming to control ever-larger regions of the world. Their time has come. Globalization is all about socialism and authoritarianism. The militant Islamists will help the authoritarian regimes by destabilizing the democratic nations as they gradually decline. The U.S. and its allies meanwhile have to maintain defenses on two fronts in the midst of declining resources and influence.
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars…” Matthew 24:6
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