It is generally agreed today that the transatlantic alliance, as it has traditionally been known, has broken down.
It’s no doubt a glitch, although a symbolic one, but when I put the term into a Google search, the Nato website appears first, and below it the words “transatlantic alliance” are followed by “No information is available for this page”. Equally kaput is the liberal international or rules-based order, notwithstanding the fact that many questioned whether it ever existed, so egregious were its exceptions and waivers.
This therefore ought to be a time for new ideas, for thinking the unthinkable, for starting not necessarily afresh but with a clean page. I wrote last year about how three contrasting frameworks – China’s “Global Community of Shared Future”, the Association of South-East Asian Nations’ “Outlook on the Indo-Pacific”, and the Japanese-American-formulated “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” – should be considered. But now I propose that the canvas should not just be the Asia-Pacific region, but the globe. What are the regional and worldviews of the Gulf countries, of the African Union, of South America, South Asia and the Pacific states?
What do we share in common, and what can we agree on, in building the multipolar era we are entering? This is a time when documents such as the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (1990) and the Bangkok Declaration on Human Rights (1993), in which 34 Asian countries put forward their perspective, should be re-examined and taken just as seriously as documents such as the European Convention on Human Rights (1953).
If we can get the conversations going, we have a shot at formulating a fairer, more inclusive, and hopefully more peaceful world
This is a time for great debates. I’d love to hear Kishore Mahbubani, one of Singapore’s many outstanding public intellectuals, and a foremost advocate of the “Asian values” school of thought, in conversation with one of India’s greatest sons, the Nobel Prize-winning economist and philosopher Amartya Sen, who believes the opposite – that liberal democratic values are universal rather than primarily western.
This is a time to look into how concepts such as “borders”, “respect”, “tolerance”, “free speech” and “obligations” to family and society vary enormously in different countries. It’s a time not to be trapped by the past, but to reimagine a more just and equitable world order. It should be a time of intellectual ferment – which to me, at least, sounds tremendously exciting.
Unfortunately, it seems that many – particularly in Europe – are retreating to and doubling down on old ideas. It appears now to be conventional wisdom across much of the continent that Russia is both virtually on its knees, economically, and simultaneously, as French President Emmanuel Macron put it earlier this month, a “threat to France and Europe” whose aggression “knows no borders”. The first statement would seem to contradict the second, but that doesn’t trouble those who never cease to invoke the 1930s with dire warnings of “appeasement”.
There is no space to delve into the war in Ukraine here, but it does strike me that politicians such as Mr Macron might stop to ask themselves how they got into this situation in the first place. They have been warned, time and again, most famously by the US diplomat and historian George Kennan in 1997, that expanding Nato to Russia’s borders “would be the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-Cold War era”. Mr Kennan was a Cassandra, and his prediction that such an expansion “would impel Russian foreign policy in directions decidedly not to our liking” has been proven all too true. This is not to dismiss the death and destruction in Ukraine.
But I would suggest that Mr Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer take a much longer-term view. Russia is part of the European landmass, and the Ukraine war will end at some point. Sooner or later, it would be far more sensible to forge a security architecture that includes Russia, not excludes it. The truth is that just as the Middle East is unlikely to enjoy lasting peace without Israel feeling secure, Eastern Europeans will not sleep easy while Russia is made to feel insecure, threatened and spurned by a West that didn’t try anywhere near hard enough to turn a former foe into a friend after the ideology that divided them collapsed.
A similar hysteria about China also afflicts many in Europe and North America. Not all: I was pleased to see former UK prime minister Boris Johnson describe himself as “a Sinophile” in his recent memoir, Unleashed, and state, “China was not an enemy”. But there are plenty who continue to insist that the so-called “Thucydides trap” makes war between a rising power – China – and an existing hegemon – the US – almost inevitable. All this, while the very Harvard academic who popularised the term, Graham Allison, went to Beijing last year, met President Xi Jinping, and praised him for managing the “Thucydidean rivalry”. “They’ve risen to the conceptual challenge,” Mr Allison said. “I think both countries are already on the right track.”
If a senior American official – Adam Boehler, the US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs – could hold talks with Hamas, as was revealed early this month, that signals that nothing today is off the table. We should treat that as an opportunity, not a cause to retreat behind the ramparts of old ways that have failed. Because failure is the right word. How else would we explain to an alien visitor why, on a planet of such abundance and empty spaces, not only are millions starving but governments spend trillions on appalling weapons that most of us hope never get used?
Don’t mourn the death of an old order that served the interests of its creators who profited from their privileged place in a two-tier world. If we can get the conversations going – and what stimulating, mind-opening discussions they could be – we have a shot at formulating a fairer, more inclusive, and hopefully more peaceful world. But carpe diem: seize the day. Such chances don’t come around very often. The great global dialogue needs to start now.
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
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Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
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10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21
- Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
- Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
- Mento Oxtail: flavoured oxtail stewed for five hours with herbs
- Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
- Jamaican porridge: another breakfast favourite, can be made with peanut, cornmeal, banana and plantain
- Jamaican beef patty: a pastry with ground beef filling
- Hellshire Pon di Beach: Fresh fish with pickles
- Out of Many: traditional sweet potato pudding
