Herbert Arlt (Vienna)
Between Asia, Europe, the world exists a complex relationship with a tradition of over 1,5 thousand years. Best known are the results of trade via Silk Road which brought richness to Europe: food, spices, ivory, cotton, silk, knowledge (cooking, medicine, mathematics etc.).
With his contribution about Goethe and Japan Naoji Kimura shows that there was also another influence – from Europe to an Asian country.
The Chinese project of the Silk road of today has tradition. And it is well known that traders have interest in peace. The NATO project after the 1980ies is responsible for wars all over the world – in spring 2023 diverse institutions count about 26 wars and 300 conflicts. (For the Roman Empire, the Feudales the everlasting wars, the injustice were the end of their power.) That President Donald Trump militarized the markets was a strategic failure.
Whatever the military result of the war in Ukraine will be the „Ramstein group“ says, nobody will win. The war will have destroyed Ukraine, hundreds of thousands were or will be killed or injured. Millions die because of hunger, disease. The warriors are isolated in the world. What we can see is the rise of Asia. The cheap materials European Union got from the Russian Federation – they go now to Asia. The Petrodollar is nearly at its end – this is also what European Central Bank (ECB), International Money Funds (IMF) are saying. A new financial system comes up. And the provocations of US in Asia do not have great sympathies. It seems US wants less tensions by now, but they do not have a cultural strategy. They struggle which their finance system. The world does not want to pay for US problems as it did after 2008. G20 is no more a format to solve US financial problems.
Weapons of the Warriors
It is now a time of further escalation. The end of the confrontation will not be the F16 fighter jets. The end could be a war between NATO and Russian Federation. The overview about the NATO weapons and how they are used is without discussion what was destroyed until now. The weapons come in over Poland. But F16 jet fighter will not change the situation on the battlefield. They are just another element of escalation.
New results
We see by now two important results: the fall of Bakhmut (Artemovsk). And the vulnerability of the Patriot batteries. With the proof of the vulnerability of the Patriot batteries the NATO is without a proper air defence.
That the Ukraine nationalists attack now persons and kill them, have President Putin on their list of murder, that they use US military vehicles and other weapons for attack Russian territory does not change the situation on the battlefield.
But when the warriors in Ukraine want to use the F16 fighter jets then the step of a war between NATO and Russian Federation may be done. For the F16 there is no infrastructure in Ukraine (hiding places, runways, maintenance etc.). But the infrastructure is in Poland.
Asian Position
In this situation the G20 summit in Indonesia had a special role. Chancellor Olaf Scholz made important steps as chair of the G7. India also wants to organize an important summit. But President Joko Widodo was a coordinator. It was especially important that this G20 summit took place in Indonesia and concrete steps were fixed. India seems to follow its own power policy with the background to have the most population the world. Japan (actual chair of G7) started once more with militarisation.
In this context UN could get a more important role, when it does not violate human rights (especially the right of every human being for a just world, not to misuse human rights for political attacks). There are efforts of a reformation of UN. In the sense of nationalists UN shall get destroyed. In the sense of President Lula (Brasil) there shall be more participation in a multipolar world.
Key elements of change
For everyone it is clear that the world is changing. In the forefront seem to be production, currencies, weapons, military ability. That is wrong. The main point of the change will be which cultural concepts will be realised.
Culture
Since thousands of years important human beings try to establish a culture of peace. Sometimes it worked: then this was a time of richness. Most time the warriors dominated as they do now once again. But what they do (food, nature, digitalisation etc.) is against the cultural realities. It is important to know that in detail. (I will come up with the project „The Iron Age. Poems 1973-2023“, but also with some articles.)
Production
A long time ago Ovid described the „Iron Age“. There is a chance to get a new approach with Quantum technology. But also, that is a question of the cultural concept. Will this technology be misused as before other technologies or will it be used in a new way to develop a culture of peace.
Trade
The problem of US is that it has problems with production. Its richness derives from a world financial system which has not really a production background. This is the main reason for using military. The better way would be to rethink the production in USA, to try once more to develop a globalisation with human face.
Currency
The hegemony of US is over, because of the force against the world. But the new concepts are not the best. They just try to destroy US hegemony like President Putin presented it these days at important economic fora. Another concept is the Chinese concept. The Silk Road is combined with the distribution of production, with a new currency.
But what the world would need to realise the main point of the human rights declaration (a just world for every human being) would be a world currency how it was suggested in the 1940ies during the war to avoid new wars.
The concepts of US, President Putin are combined with wars. What the world needs is to realize a culture of peace. This shall be the suggestion to the G20 summit in New Delhi in September 2023 this year. But more hope comes up when Brasil will have the chair for the G20 summit next year.