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International trends / Op-Ed/Article

The international system in movement

08/10/2007 By Mariano Aguirre Ernst

Is a new Cold War between the United States and Russia emerging? Some signs seem to indicate that the tensions between Moscow and Washington are returning.

And are we also headed for confrontation between the North and the South?

It is easier to establish similarities than to understand new realities; the emerging scenario is not one of two powers with different ideologies competing for the rest of the world, but one in wich United States and Russia are crucial actors in a new international multipolar system where diverse states and non-state actors struggle for pragmatical interests.

Regarding to the ideology, it is not about confronting communism-capitalism: the national, religious or ethnic identities are ideological elements used to build more united societies and to obtain internal legitimacy, from te messianic patriotism of the US to the russian national proud, passing through the populism of Chávez in Venezuela, the chinese neo-communism and the hegemonic nationalism of Iran.

As for the confrontation North-South, the issues also are complex: the taliban, armed groups in Iraq or Hamas are very different organizations, and are very far from the national liberation groups from the postcolonialism between the fifties and sixties of the 20th century.

The violence between communities, the war against the "West" of Al-Quaeda and the economic connection between illegal trade and non-state armed groups have changed the scenario.

One of the most remarkable and complex caracteristics of the present international system, is the conection between situations. During the Cold War the struggle between East and West has been projected to the so called Third World, but contemporary situations and conflicts all around the world are interconnected very strongly and fastly, due to global communication.

The controversy between United States and Russia has precisely these caracteristics of interconnection between local and global.

Article published in: El Debate Político. Revista Iberoamericana de Análisis Político, Año 4, Nº 6/7, Buenos Aires, October, 2007

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Keywords

Globalization Multipolarity

Bio author: Mariano Aguirre Ernst

Mariano Aguirre has been Director of the Centro de Investigación para la Paz, in Madrid, and Coordinator of programmes on peace and conflicts at the Ford Foundation, in New York. Mariano Aguirre publishes articles in various media in Spain and internationally such as OpenDemocracy, Le monde diplomatique, El Correo, La Vanguardia, Maniere de voir, AlertNet, Enjeux Internationaux, Temas, El País, Política Exterior, Debate, BBC World Service, Radio Netherland, Radio Nacional de España, Radio France International, Mediterranean Politics and CNN Spain.