How to survive when superpowers are behaving badly
Smaller Asian states need to be nimble in their foreign policy, and agnostic about their allegiances
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THE meek shall inherit the earth, said no superpower ever. At a time when both the US and China are flouting international conventions, it’s up to small and medium-size nations to work together to uphold the rules-based order – or at least what’s left of it.
It feels like we are living through a looking glass moment, a world turned on its head. Under President Donald Trump, the US has upended decades of stable foreign policy. He made that abundantly clear on Monday (Feb 24) by breaking with Washington’s traditional position on Ukraine, withdrawing condemnation of Russia’s 2022 invasion at the United Nations (UN) and among Group of Seven countries.
Russia and the US also voted together against a European-backed resolution in the UN General Assembly that called out Moscow’s “full-scale invasion”. They were joined by Belarus and North Korea – hardly Washington’s historic allies – among other countries.
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