Closing ranks – the only right approach to the great security puzzle
As the 55th Munich Security Conference (MSC) opened on Friday, high on the agenda is the question posed by its annual report: “The Great Puzzle: Who Will Pick Up the Pieces?”
“When looking at the current state of international affairs, it is difficult to escape the feeling that the world is not just witnessing a series of smaller and bigger crises, but that there is a more fundamental problem. Indeed, we seem to be experiencing a reshuffling of core pieces of the international order,” said the report in its foreword.
The grim picture is not drawn out of thin air. As certain Western countries turn to selfcentered and confrontational mentality and show little interest in fulfilling international responsibilities, unilateralism, isolationism and trade protectionism are bearing bad fruit.
The European Union and the US are drifting apart in many fields like trade, defense, climate change and the Middle East. Britain is struggling under the Brexit ordeal. And the US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is bringing the world more panic and uncertainty.
As has been repeatedly proved by historical experience, unilateralism and the zero-sum game mentality will inevitably lead the geopolitical situation into imbalance and turbulence.
Without consultation, coordination, cooperation and compromise, the settlement of such critical international issues as trade, arms control and climate change will be as elusive as a mirage in the desert.
As the bandwagon of globalization rumbles forward, countries are unprecedentedly interdependent and tightly interwoven in global supply chains, industry chains and value chains.
To pick up the pieces and get the world back on track, all stakeholders should do their best to avoid confrontation, work together and meet each other halfway.
In face of the profound changes unseen in a century on the global landscape, China has always been an active advocate of win-win cooperation, and it will continue to uphold peace, development and cooperation for shared benefit, deepen international exchanges on all fronts and promote mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries.
As for the international order, the MSC report said that the post-Cold War period “has come to an end,” and that it is unclear “what kind of new order will emerge ... and whether the transition period will be peaceful.”
“Most importantly, this new uncertainty means that world leaders carry a huge responsibility,” it emphasized.
“My lesson from this,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, “is that in the times we are living in we carefully think about our next steps, that we act prudently, and that we are clear in our language.”
The four-term German leader struck the right chord with people around the world when she said: “For me the foremost is the question: how do we work together?”