Paddy Ashdown, a former MP and a former British diplomat, spoke about the challenges which the global power shift brings to the world nations in general and to the United States in particular. To understand what the United States should do in order to resolve existing problems she faces today, one should first understand the context in which all world nations are operating today. This context is marked by the end, as Mr Ashdown sees it, of one historical period of the world existence and the beginning of another. Namely, Western countries, including the United States, have ceased to be the dominant power in the world.
These days we witness the decline of the Western values and the shift of global power center to the East or, more accurately, to the countries of Pacific Rim. Among these Mr Ashdown names China, India, and Brazil. The second thing about the changed context is that all economic and political stability in the world depends on activities of transnational business entities – multinational corporations whose budget often exceeds the budgets of medium-sized countries. Since it is hard to regulate the operations of these entities, a shift to a global governmental entity is taking place. The third thing about the changing context is the interdependence of all world nations through a multitude of communications (Ashdown, 2012).
In the aforementioned context, the United States should realize that the situation when “every compass needle for or against has to be referenced by its position to Washington” is over (Ashdown, 2012). No longer will the mono-polar world exist. In order to successfully fare in the multi-polar world, the United States should focus on establishing close ties with other nations, especially with reference to the countries of Pacific Rim. Shoring up certain states in this and other regions, namely those who are potential allies, appears beneficial for the United States. With reference to the domestic policy, the United States and other developed states should re-structure their governmental bodies so that the vertical power structure gets replaced by the horizontal one. The latter should be based on close collaboration among all ministries by the principle of networking.
- Ashdown, P. (2012). Lecture on the global power shift. Retrieved on November 10, 2013, from http://www.ted.com/talks/paddy_ashdown_the_global_power_shift.html.
