Global Problems and Challenges for the World Community
Serhii Polyovyk
Iran’s massive missile attack on Israel, carried out deep into the territory of the Jewish State, turned another page in the escalation of the situation in the Middle East and created direct prerequisites for the regional conflict to grow into a global confrontation. International experts are concerned about preserving at least the current state of the absence of a hot phase of a global war. Therefore, Iran’s intentions to destroy the Jewish State cause justified fears and doubts about the stability of the existing status quo. This concern is heightened by the fact that Iran and Israel are potentially undeclared nuclear powers which seek to surprise an adversary with the possible use of weapons of mass destruction against the adversary.
Experts point out many parallels and analogies between the intentions of the leaders of Iran’s Ayatollah regime to destroy a neighboring state with the situation of Iran’s ally Moscow and its aggressive war against Ukraine. Nevertheless, the hot phase of Iranian aggression in the form of a massive missile attack on Israel occupied the leading places in the world media, temporarily relegating the events surrounding Russia’s criminal war against Ukraine to the background.
The world community’s reaction to the bombing of the territory of Israel was predictably harsh. The USA, the United Kingdom, France and a number of other countries even took part in the destruction of Iranian missiles on the trajectory of their movement in the airspace around the territory of Israel. Statements by the leaders of the United States, the UK and France also indicate that the allies will continue to support the State of Israel. At the same time, the reaction to the new act of Iranian aggression on the part of most other European countries turned out to be predictably sluggish. For example, Germany expressed its support for Israel, but did not dare to join the efforts of Western allies to destroy Iranian missiles.
The scale of Israel’s possible military response has traditionally caused concern among Western leaders, who have urged Israel to exercise restraint, but there is no doubt that Israel will certainly strike back at Iran’s most important facilities and decision-making centers. After all, the absence of a military response would mean that Tel Aviv has come to terms with attacks on the national territory of the Jewish State, which may continue to be shelled by both Iran itself and its proxies from neighboring territories bordering Israel. Besides, Tel Aviv now has a legitimate reason to put an end to Iran’s nuclear program not through negotiations and persuasion, as it was advocated by the United States, but through force. Such a course of events could lead to unpredictable consequences and a probable escalation of confrontation in the region with the participation of Iran’s numerous proxies, as well as Russia, North Korea and, possibly, China.
In the United States, Israel continues to be called a strategic ally and a key player in the Middle East. However, Washington is more concerned with electoral problems ahead of the presidential elections in November 2024, relations with the main adversary China, and the prospects of shaping a new world order. It is obvious that in the matter of geostrategic thinking and own positioning in the contours of the new world order, which will certainly be formed after the victory over the Russian Federation and its partners, the USA and its allies are ready to accept the loss of the role of world leader, guarantor of peace and democracy, capable of protecting its ideals by force. The essentially petty leaders of the first echelon of the American political class are no longer capable of formulating a leadership position to preserve the world order under their own leadership. This will inevitably cost the United States a loss of international authority and global leadership in the confrontation with China. This is what right now most of all worries Washington and the Biden administration, which proved unable to tame the pro-Moscow Trump at home and created the conditions for the collapse of the US-led world order.
