ИСТИНА

The great decoupling underway between China and the United States is leading third countries to take a stand or avoid having to do so. The multilateralism put in place in the aftermath of the Second World War was certainly based on an inequality of rights and duties, but it did offer everyone a forum, mechanisms for seizing disputes, and solutions that prevented the rise to extremes or the feeling of abandonment. The internal equilibria of these mechanisms are affected by their intrinsic weaknesses, by changes in the balance of power, by the failures of globalization, by the American feeling that this system is no longer compatible with the preservation of their pre-eminent place in the world. China is using it in accordance with its own interests and is taking advantage of the vacuum. Far from provoking a holistic vision as in some of previous crises, the COVID pandemic has aggravated these imbalances and the loss of reference points. The balance sheet of reactions and victims is not favorable to Western countries whose governance and cohesion have been found wanting. The spirit of the Cold War is gaining ground daily with the competition vis-à-vis third countries that are being called upon by Washington to choose their camp or that, on their own, do not want to upset Donald Trump.