Pars Today

Pars Today- We Europeans wanted to create a ring of friends in our neighborhood, but, what we have today is a ring of fire instead.

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, during a speech on May 3 in the British University of Oxford, explained his views on the most important global issues like the war in Ukraine, the issue of Palestine, the international system, the growth of China's power, and the need for Europe's further security independence on the US.

Here, you can read part of the speech which has been published on the website of EU's External Action Service:

 "The international system, which we had got accustomed to after the Cold War, does not exist anymore. The United States has lost its hegemonic situation and the post-1945 multilateral world order has lost its status. China is turning into a superpower. What China has done for the past 40 years is unique in human history. For the past 30 years, China's share of the global GDP (according to the purchasing power parity), has reached from 6% to nearly 20%. While we Europeans have reached from 21% to 14% and the Americans have reached from 20% to 15%. This is a spectacular change in the economic prospect.

China is turning into a rival for us and the US; not only in the production of cheap commodities, but also as a military power, in the frontline of technological development and building of technologies which will shape our future. China has started 'unlimited friendship' with Russia. Simultaneously, middle powers are emerging. They are turning into important players. Whether they are members of BRICS or other than BRICS, they have very little common features except the desire for gaining further status and stronger voice in the world and also more privileges for their own development. To reach this goal, they lead their independence to maximum. They are not inclined to take side. Depending on the moment, depending on the question, one side supports another one. We Europeans wanted to create a ring of friends in our neighborhood, but, what we have today is a ring of fire instead; a ring of fire which extends from the coast to the Middle East, Caucasus and now the battlefields of Ukraine.

In some of the important straits, like the Red Sea, we are even involved in the missions of the EU navy. Moreover, there are two wars in which people are fighting for territory. This indicates that geography has returned. We were said that globalization had made geography irrelevant. But, no! Most of the clashes of our region are related to territory and are territorial; a territory which has been promised to two persons and, as for Ukraine, a territory in the junction of two worlds. 'This is my territory', 'No, this is my territory'. And this struggle for territory sheds a lot of blood.

Simultaneously, we are witness to the acceleration of global trends. Climatic changes will no more be a problem in the future. The disintegration of weather is currently here. It is not for the future; it is for today. Technological developments in particular, as everyone speaks of the artificial intelligence, it creates changes which we cannot understand completely. Population, too, is rapidly changing and when I am speaking on population equation, I speak about migration particularly in Africa where 25% of the world population will be living in 2050. In 2050, one out of every 4 persons will be living in Africa while we witness the increase of inequalities, decrease of democracy and endangering of freedoms.

In this prospect, the role of the EU and Britain should be defined. I don't know what our role will be. We hear warnings denoting that Europe might die, nothing less than that. Alright, what should we do?"

Key phrases: what is the new world order, war of Russia and Ukraine, Israeli war in Gaza, how will be the world

RM/UR