OPINION> Zhu Yuan
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OPINION> Zhu Yuan
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Common sense helps a new world order
By Zhu Yuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-22 07:58
Where is the world to go is a question for big powers and their politicians. It is almost impossible for the United States to maintain a unipolar world any more as transnational challenges such as climate change, nuclear proliferation, civil conflicts and terrorism are not for any single country to address. A new book - Power and Responsibility Building International Order in an Era of Transnational Threats - proposes the idea of "responsible sovereignty", which needs to replace the "national sovereignty" of the 20th century. It means that a nation has to not only protect its own people but also share the responsibility for safeguarding common resources and tackling common threats. The book was written by three Americans: Stephen Stedman, senior fellow, FSI and director of the Ford Dorsey Program in International Policy Studies, Bruce Jones, co-director of the center on international cooperation, New York University, and Carlos Pascual, director of foreign policy studies, the Brookings Institution. It is a good sign that some in the US are beginning to realize that US unilateralism will solve neither its problems nor those of the international community. Actually, the concept of "responsible sovereignty" coincides with that of the "harmonious world" proposed by Chinese President Hu Jintao in 2005. Common efforts by all countries, big powers in particular, are a basic requirement for building a "harmonious world". Back in time, super powers used to establish empires through armed conquest, and in the process, subjugated weaker or smaller tribes and communities. Yet, the world order so established could not be maintained for long as the oppressed would not tolerate oppression at all times. In international relations, trouble caused by the hegemony of one or more superpowers was common. Prosperity of some countries was based on the misery of other nations. A world based on such an order was not harmonious. As far as common challenges are concerned, we did not realize the common problems until they began to affect us all and made us recognize the need for common effort. That the US's popularity has kept plunging worldwide for consecutive years in the past should have cut deep into the self complacency of the world's biggest power. The financial tsunami on Wall Street and the economic meltdown that followed worldwide send the message that the US cannot accomplish anything alone, and not everything it has done is worthy of emulation. This implies that the domination of the world order by a single power is not only unrealistic but also impossible. The concept of "responsible sovereignty" has a lot in common with the code of conduct in traditional Chinese culture. As one of the authors, Pascual, says, the book emphasizes the principle that one must be good to others if one wants others to be good to him or her. This is another version of what ancient Chinese sage Confucius told us: Never do to others what you don't want others to do to you. This requires that a country must look beyond its own interest, to the concerns of other countries and the future of the world at large. To address the common challenges that pose a threat to the international community, nations, big powers in particular, must first return to the common sense of getting along with each other on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. E-mail: [email protected] (China Daily 07/22/2009 page8) |
