Kemal Öztürk
I had a conversation with Dr. Nevzat Çelik, a Faculty Member of Political Science at Sorbonne University in France, particularly about the future of Europe. When I asked what he foresaw, he said: “Europe will collapse in a much shorter time than you expect. The first country will be France.”
Shortly after this conversation, French President Macron made the following statement: “If we do not take precautions, Europe will sink within five years.”
Meanwhile, the United States keeps pressuring Europe so that this collapse accelerates even further. Yet even American intellectuals say that the American century has come to an end, and that the U.S. administration is pursuing such aggressive policies precisely because it sees this reality.
I also spoke with Dr. Murat Öztuna, a China specialist at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (ORSAM) in Ankara, about the prophecies suggesting that the China–U.S. rivalry will eventually turn into a conflict. “China and the U.S. will eventually reach an agreement somewhere; I do not think there will be a conflict. However, the world is exaggerating China’s power.”
“How so?” I asked. “Won’t we see a China-centered world order in the future?”
“No,” he said. “China’s structure is not suitable for managing such a system like the U.S., nor does it have the power.”
Do you know why I am telling you all this? As the world order changes with a great upheaval, we must properly understand the picture we are facing.
A LAWLESS AND AGGRESSIVE TRANSITIONAL ORDER
When the United States seized the President of Venezuela and his wife from their bed in the middle of the night and abducted them, on what law did it base this act? Or when Israel attacked Qatar, on which UN rule did it rely? None…
Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, and Syria have also been subjected to attacks based on no law and no rules. In other words, we are in a transition to a lawless, ruleless, and aggressive world order. This means that if Trump wanted to seize Greenland by force, or if Israel struck Iran again, who would say anything? If China used this lawlessness as a pretext to take Taiwan, or if Russia attempted to occupy all of Ukraine, what would happen?
In short, the world order is changing, and this creates a chaotic environment. And chaos means lawlessness and rulelessness. So, what will Islamic countries do in this environment of chaos?
WHAT KIND OF WORLD ORDER ARE WE TRANSITIONING TO?
While hosting the President of Uruguay in his country on February 2, the President of China described the kind of world order he envisions for the future with the following words: “We must cooperate to move toward a fair and orderly multipolar world and an economic globalization that provides mutual benefit…”
After listening to Dr. Murat Öztuna, who argues that China cannot single-handedly manage the system in a centralized world order and is structurally unsuited for it, the statements of Chinese President Xi gained even greater meaning.
Then we need to ask a second question: In a multipolar world order, which states will lead those poles, or how many poles will there be?
For this difficult question, we can make various speculations… India, Russia, China, and Brazil could become leading pole states…
But let us focus a little more on our own region.
WHY NOT A CENTER OF ATTRACTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
In a multipolar world, it has become imperative for the Middle East and the Islamic world not to join one of the Eastern- or Western-centered poles, but to form a pole of their own. In the alliances we have formed with the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Russia as regional countries up to now, it has always been the Islamic countries that suffered. In our countries, there has been no shortage of wars, conflicts, terrorism, division, poverty, and exploitation…
Now, as the world order is collapsing and a new one is being established, we must carefully consider what position we will take. If a multipolar world order is being established, then we too must establish a pole center. The ongoing alliance talks among Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan could certainly be its nucleus. Under the leadership of not one but several states, we can form a pole that will create a major balance in the world.
We have human resources, a young population, military capacity, nuclear power, energy resources, and financial strength… What is lacking for us to become a center of attraction, a power hub? We lack nothing except believing in this idea and setting aside our differences to unite.
Let me share one more idea:
A NEW POWER CENTER: THE MEDITERRANEAN ALLIANCE
What do you think the countries of the European Union that are set to disintegrate will do? Do they not need new alliances and cooperations to meet their needs for human resources, energy, security, and economic stability? If Europe forms an alliance not with China on the other side of the world but with the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries, it will regain stability and survive. The common Mediterranean civilizational culture, the human resources and energy resources of Islamic countries, and the military power, defense industry, and financial resources of Türkiye and Pakistan are precisely what Europe needs most. When Spain, Italy, Greece, and France—that is, the Mediterranean countries—become part of the pole we will establish, an entirely different power center will emerge in the world.
Look at the energy generated by the rapprochement among Türkiye, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. Imagine that other Islamic countries also join it. If a multipolar order is to be established in the world, then we too must establish our own order. This is not a dream; it is a necessity…
