The Fight for the Second World

Tuesday 20. May 18:30 - 20:00
Location: DGAP, Berlin

 

Which powers will determine the world order of the 21st century? The USA, China and the European Union, according to “The Second World”, recently published in German and presented by the author Parag Khanna exclusively at the DGAP on 20 May 2008. The event was moderated by John Hulsman, DGAP’s Alfred von Oppenheim-Scholar.

The “second world” is a conglomeration of countries in which the wealth of the “first world” meets the hardship of the “third world”. After travelling to and studying over 50 of those countries, Khanna has come to the following conclusion: the empires of the USA, China and the EU are increasingly competing for the strategic and economic orientation of the second world.

Khanna argues that Europe is already a global player, with more influence then widely assumed - even by the Europeans themselves. While the USA uses “coalitions of the willing” and China solicits by “consultation” in order to enforce their interests in the second world, the EU progresses by “consensus” and appeals by exporting its norms and rules. To survive, Khanna recommends that the US stresses diplomatic initiatives and abandons its unilateral and militaristic foreign policy of recent years.

What is the role of international organizations in the world order envisaged by Khanna? This was one of the key questions raised by the audience during the discussion. In Khanna’s view, only the WTO might yet persist in this “geopolitical marketplace”. Due to a lack of reform and power imbalances, the UN system will be incrementally replaced by regional alliances.