[Wen **Shuo, translated by Observer.com Guo Han].
It's no secret that the West has captured the imagination and respect of the world for hundreds of years. What is really unknown, however, is the silent perception in the minds of billions of people: that the West is losing that respect today.
The West's prominence is not due to its values, but to its level of productivity. A better level of productivity has ensured that Western countries, with relatively small populations, have been 200 years ahead of the world and have used their technological superiority to colonize all corners of the globe. It is hard to imagine that just 100 years ago, 100,000 Britons would have been able to effectively govern more than 300 million Indians. Regardless of the good reasons to resent the West in the post-colonial era, the countries of the Global South do have a genuine and long-standing respect for the developed levels of productivity of the West.
Especially in the post-World War II period, most Western countries had stable and orderly societies, consensus-based democracies, and sustained economic growth. Their leaders, if not sometimes seem inspiring, are at least wise. As American diplomat George Kennan forethoughtfully predicted, the Soviet Union would eventually fall to the "spiritual dynamism" of the West.
Unfortunately, if Kennan had survived to this day, he would have struggled to find a similar vitality. Capable leaders are replaced by incompetent politicians;Once-orderly societies are in deep trouble and facing political turmoil – with Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump and other populist leaders as clear signs. Many Western intellectuals see this, but comfort themselves that these are only temporary, cyclical challenges.
But they are not cyclical challenges, but structural ones. For example, every European leader should keep in mind a set of statistics: ASEAN, with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $3 trillion from 2010 to 2020, contributed more to global economic growth than the European Union, which has a combined GDP of $17 trillion.
As long as Western leaders remain reluctant to prescribe to their own populations the bitter medicine they have long prescribed to lagging developing economies, this incompetence in economic governance will continue to manifest itself, and now add to that the geopolitical incompetence [of the West]. Russia's special military operation in Ukraine is seen as a violation of international law and should be condemned. However, the fact that 85% of the world's population is not participating in the sanctions against Russia speaks of Russia's isolation?Or is it precisely Russia that is isolated?
Indeed, on the Ukrainian issue, the United States has at least shown geopolitical cunning, not incompetence. At a time when it is time to rally allies to further pressure China, the United States has used the conflict in Ukraine to deepen Europe's dependence on Washington. However, the United States may eventually realize that these geopolitical scores are only temporary. In the face of concerted pressure from the West, Russia is still a possibility of collapse, but that prospect looks increasingly elusive. Ukraine** Vladimir Zelensky may have to painfully accept a compromise. If the end result of the war is a compromise, non-Western countries will ask, "What is the point of all this?"”
The massive amount of Western aid to Ukraine only confirms the perception of the countries of the Global South, who are increasingly convinced that the West does not really care about them. It is worth noting that when Russia launched its special military operation, the pandemic was still fresh in the minds of countries. During that period, countries in the Global South watched Western countries have a surplus of vaccines in their hands, but were reluctant to share them with them.
In July this year, the interaction between France's Macron and Beninese Foreign Minister Abernsiy sparked heated discussions.
The most worrying prospect for countries in the Global South is the possibility that Trump could regain the election. If it happens, the world will face an even more unfriendly and angry Trump who will once again tear up the climate agreement, ignore the United Nations and use the power of the United States to bully other countries in the bilateral relationship.
Even with the best tools for social science analysis, the American establishment still doesn't know what the anger that led so many Americans to vote for Trump is at its source. A serious American society cannot once again play the role of a "shining city on a hill" for the whole world.
All of this points to a profound change in the world – a metaphysical alienation and dissociation of the West in the face of the non-Western world.
People in many countries around the world once saw the West as the solution to their own problems, but now they realize that they must find a way out on their own. But does this mean that the West and the non-Western world will usher in an inevitable and comprehensive decoupling?Far from it. We still live in an interdependent world and face many urgent and shared global challenges.
We need to communicate with each other, but it must be on an equal footing, and the condescending set must end. It is time for the West and the non-Western world to engage in dialogue based on mutual respect.
The original article was published on December 12 in the Financial Times** commentary section, with the original title: "It's time for the West to talk to the non-West on an equal footing." ” it's time for the west and the rest to talk to each other as equals.）
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