New global security order a must

Su Ge China Institute of International Studies China Daily Asia News Network Beijing

A new international security mechanism should be created to stop growing uncertain factors in international relations.

The new mechanism should be based on mutual trust, reciprocity, equality and co-ordination.

Today, some uncertain factors are the potential threat of international relations though peace and development remain the main theme. The readjustment in U.S. foreign policy since President George W. Bush took office last year has greatly influenced international relations.

However, the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. and the ensuing anti-terror campaign improved U.S. relations with many countries, and even with its "strategic rivalries."

To win the war against terrorism as soon as possible, the United States co-ordinated its position with Britain and Japan.

Its relations with Russia have been closer following the Sept. 11 attacks. Russia opened its air space to U.S. airplanes to facilitate its military actions in Afghanistan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to the United States in mid-November last year pushed bilateral relations forward by striking a deal on anti-terror co-operation and the reduction of strategic weapons of the two countries.

Sino-U.S. ties also improved a lot in the wake of the terrorist attacks. China's support to the anti-terrorism campaign expanded the two countries common ground.

The Sept. 11 attacks sounded the alarm bell for the United States, which thought its security could not be endangered because of its mighty economic and military strength. The event also prompted the U.S. and the entire world to reconsider how to effectively safeguard national and international security.

Defusing the "terrorist threat" has become an important part of safeguarding national and international security.

The terrorist event and its radiating aftermath made the already dim global economic prospect dimmer, adding unpredictable factors to international relations.

The increasingly tense Israeli-Palestinian relations continue to afflict the international community, and the boiling bilateral confrontation has brought the two sides to a vicious circle of military vengeance and counter-vengeance.

Increasingly tense regional conflicts are still likely to escalate into a large-scale regional war, though the chance for another world-scale war is very thin.

Rapid economic globalization and increasing interdependence among different countries also confer national security with wider dimensions.

Among all the factors influencing international relations, national security is a top priority pursued by the majority of countries.

Currently, a large number of countries still regard innovation of military stockpile as an effective means to guarantee security.

There is every reason to believe that National Missile Defense (NMD) systems pursued by the United States will inevitably drive other countries to develop more advanced weapons.

The U.S. withdrawal from the Anti-ballistic Missile treaty (ABM), clinched with the former Soviet Union in 1972, is likely to break up the hard-won global strategic balance.

The move will also spark a new round of arms race, casting a shadow over peace in the new century.

Military coalition, a leftover from the Cold War which should have been discarded 10 years ago, has been strengthened in some regions.

Asian economic giant Japan, which has long been pursuing the status of a political and military big power, dispatched troops to overseas regions in the midst of the anti-terror war under the U.S. and Japan alliance, which is banned by the country's peace constitution since the end of World War II.

The big move by Japan worried many of its Asian neighbors, who suffered from atrocities perpetrated by Japanese militarists during World War II, and will inevitably produce significant influence on the regional strategic stability.

The national economic security has gradually received more attention in international relations with the deepening of economic globalization and interdependence.

Economic globalization does not necessarily bring benefits to developing countries, which are likely to be marginalized in the process. Some countries will be confronted with more challenges than opportunities.

The global economic slowdown, which was further accelerated by the Sept. 11 event, may possibly prompt the world major powers to make international economic rules in their favor.

It is a pressing task to give developing countries a deserved seat in the wave of economic globalization, given the rising numbers of anti-globalization activities now occurring across the world.

In the post Cold War period, competition of the "soft national strength" between countries is ascending while the competition of the "hard national strength" remains to hold the mainstream.

The so-called "soft national strength" refers to influences of a country's ideological and cultural factors in international relations.

The struggle for ideological penetration and anti-penetration is likely to be intensified with religious factors growing in international relations.

Non-traditional threats have become a growing cancer in international society.

A U.S. defense report issued after the Sept. 11 U.S. terrorist attack ranked handling non-traditional security problems a high priority.

International relations and regional security will be influenced by the approaches taken not only to root out terrorism but to solve such problems as environmental degradation, crowding, desertification, global warming, money laundering and drug trafficking.

Spreading anthrax by mail, which took place a dozen times in the United States since October, is also a reminder that bio- technology may pose new threat to security.

Further development and application of information, space and Internet technology also pose new challenges to the traditional concept of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Therefore, it is necessary to establish a new security concept aimed at creating a lasting stable international environment for the international community.