Stephen Sefton, September 19, 2025
Even in the midst of the current dizzying development of world events, it is possible to identify the trends that are shaping the new era of international relations. From the start of this 21st century, the decline of the collective West relative to the great powers of the majority world has been increasingly self-evident. The progressive development of close coordination between Russia and China as counterweights to the political-military and economic power of the collective West has consolidated Eurasia region as the main axis of the world economy.
This new reality opens up a corresponding process of a progressively greater diversification of good options for the development of the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Paradoxically, the more the elites of the collective West insist on their already outdated political-military hegemony, the more they damage the productivity and competitiveness of their countries' economies. In turn, the growing problems of lack of appropriate investment and inequality and social exclusion increase the crisis of the anti-democratic political model applied by Western elites to defend their power and control at home.
The ancien regime is over
The different perspectives between the old regime of the collective West and the new international order promoted by the main powers of the majority world can be summarized quite clearly. In contrast to the trend of the collective West towards economic and political crisis, the governments of the main countries of the majority world emphasize cooperation and common efforts to achieve greater equilibrium with the aim of ensuring greater stability and prosperity for the Common Good. The West suffers from
* insufficient investment in productive capacity
* perverse financial innovation
* decline in competitiveness relative to the Asia
* the aggressive obsession with the militarization of political conflicts
* high levels of counterproductive and potentially unpayable debt
* lack of focus on the human development of their populations
* external relations of domination and exploitation
The US and its vassal countries threaten the rest in the world by essentially saying "do what we want or we are going to destroy your economy". In the case of countries that manage to overcome Western economic aggression and persist in defending their sovereignty, such as Russia, Iran or Venezuela, the collective West attacks them with military force. On the other hand, the developing model of international relations proposed by the main countries of the majority world, such as China, India and Russia and their partners of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS+ group of countries demonstrates
* a focus on the productivity of their economies
* prioritizing the human development of their peoples
* prudent management of public finances
* healthy financial innovation to maintain high competitiveness
* genuine insistence on self-defense and non-aggression
* foreign relations of respect, mutual benefit and non-intervention
Economic performance and equilibrium
The levels of Gross Domestic Product growth in the leading countries of the majority world tend to be noticeably higher than the growth levels of Western economies. In general, a balanced GDP growth should mean that the economic participation of the population is extended, poverty is reduced and the consumption of the population in general is increased. In 2024, despite being subjected to thousands of unilateral coercive measures by the collective West, the Russian economy grew by more than 4%, India and Indonesia grew by more than 6%, China by more than 5% and Brazil by almost 4%.
On the other hand, the North American economy grew by less than 3% and the economies of the main European countries by 1% or less, which reflects that in Western countries the middle class is decreasing and poverty is increasing. A controversial report by the rating agency Moody's reports that the richest 10% of the US population is now responsible for 50% of national consumption and a third of GDP. Although it may be exaggerated, this figure indicates the enormous imbalance and inequality that prevail in US society.
Several observers have calculated that during the last ten years trade between the countries of the majority world has increased by 40% while trade between the economies of the collective West has fallen by 10%. For example, in 2024, the trade of Nigeria, the strongest economy in West Africa with India, Indonesia and South Africa was more than three times its trade with the United States. Another example of the dynamism of the majority world is China's cooperation with Malaysia and Indonesia.
The three countries are consolidating the integration of their commercial infrastructure in the form of high-speed rail connections and modernized port facilities to complement already well-developed existing regional infrastructure. Malaysia and Singapore are developing the initiative of a high-speed rail link between the two countries, while Indonesia, Malaysia and China are developing new routes for maritime transport bypassing the bottleneck of the Strait of Malacca. These new infrastructure projects go hand in hand with the introduction of new financial networks to break free from the dead hand of the Western financial system.
The development of alternatives to the Western financial system includes payment, compensation and cancellation systems such as China's CIPS system, Russia's SPFS, and Iran's SEPAM. In July 2024, then-Senator Marco Rubio presented a law to the US Congress in order to punish the entities using these systems. The law was not voted on, but its presentation to Congress confirms the fear of the US elites about greater financial independence among the countries of the majority world. The same applies to the development of complex multilateral systems such as BRICS Pay that also offer alternatives to a wide range of countries willing to develop their trade and financial relations within the framework of BRICS+.
The fragile system of the North American dollar
The instability of US economic policies affects confidence in the dollar and treasury bonds as a safe investment compared to financial assets denominated in other currencies and gold. The abuse of the Western financial system to attack other countries for political reasons makes the governments of the world wonder if they too may find themselves victims of the financial aggression applied against Iran, Russia and Venezuela. In relation to the US dollar, expert observers in the field note increasingly wide adoption by investors of hedging measures to protect their assets against a possible depreciation of the US dollar.
It is not necessary for some speculative attack to provoke another serious international financial crisis similar to the great recession of 2008-2009 which resulted from a liquidity crisis caused by a collapse of confidence in asset valuations. A sharp drop in the yield of Treasury bonds will necessarily trigger a similar series of complex reactions in the financial markets which will put pressure on the dollar and cause another liquidity crisis. This situation does not result by any means from the processes of de-dollarization in international trade on the part of the BRICS+ countries. It is an inherent outcome of the Western financial system’s fragility.
The crumbling of the collective West’s economic leadership results from its own weaknesses and its own inability to be able to compete economically, especially with China. Now the US manufacturing and agricultural sectors are in crisis due to the consequences of the US tariff war against the whole world. Furthermore it is now recognized that the repressive US policy against migrant families in the country has caused a significant shortage of labor in construction and agriculture. So to the fragility of the US financial system is added a deepening crisis in its productive economy.
Economic weakness, geopolitical constraints
For their part, European governments are also presiding over the deindustrialization of their economies thanks to their decision to cut their trade and energy relations with Russia. This situation of uncertainty and insecurity in relation to the West is expressed in the fears of the Arab world about Western country guarantees after the Israeli attack on Qatar which could not have been carried out without the complicity of the US government. The signing this month of an unprecedented mutual defense alliance between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in effect signals the end of the US monopoly on the regional security of the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf.
In the case of Latin America and the Caribbean there are also limits now to freedom of action without consequences for the collective West. The murderous criminal government of President Trump will have to take into account the impact of its threats against Venezuela on the international oil market and the negative consequences for its own economy. Venezuelan heavy crude is still essential for 13% of the activity of US oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. Against Russia, President Trump has not applied increased sanctions in order to keep fuel prices stable in his country. The same may well apply in the case of the aggression he threatens to unleash against Venezuela.
On September 18th, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Lin Jian, summed up this reality as follows: “...coercion and pressure, as well as intimidation, only serve to alienate countries and, increasingly, they will not work... Latin America is no one's backyard and has the right to independently choose its path of development and cooperation partners... We urge the United States to stop forcing them to choose sides, stop interfering in their internal affairs and do more to contribute to their development and prosperity, instead of meddling and sowing discord. No attempt to disrupt China's friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation with Latin America will succeed.”