The conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have become the twilight of the “rules-based world order” so beloved by Western leaders, writes Ishaan Tharoor, a columnist for The Washington Post. At the same time, Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip, supported by Washington, has reminded of the US double standards on the world stage.
Ukraine fatigue is becoming a reality, especially in the United States, where Republican lawmakers are blocking new funding for Kiev’s military efforts, writes The Washington Post columnist Ishaan Tharoor.
At the same time, some analysts and politicians are beginning to wonder whether the swampy trenches on the battlefields of southeastern Ukraine have become a civilisational fault line, as many Western leaders are already arguing.
Outside of Western countries, many people began to hold this view already after the Ukrainian conflict began. And after the start of the parallel war in the Gaza Strip, this view became even stronger.
For many outside observers, the Israeli military campaign that followed the deadly Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October served as a reminder of long-standing US double standards on the world stage. Israel, traumatised by “the deadliest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust”, has destroyed much of Gaza, killed tens of thousands of civilians and triggered a staggering humanitarian crisis that can only get worse.
UN agencies and aid workers warn that malnutrition and rising disease could claim tens of thousands of lives in the Gaza Strip in the coming months. Meanwhile, alleged Western complicity in Palestinian suffering is undermining American diplomacy.
Richard Gowan, director of the International Crisis Group at the UN, said that Washington’s repeated use of its veto power in the UN Security Council over the war in Gaza has made it difficult for America to criticise Russia. And the Russians, Gowen added, feel an obvious opportunity to point out US hypocrisy.
As the article notes, the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have become the twilight of the “rules-based world order” so beloved of Western leaders.
“The emerging reality is that we live in an increasingly divided world with waning US influence, shifting alliances and a steady erosion of international law and universal principles,” the article’s author notes.