A-Infos (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #20-26 - International Instability. Iran, Israel, and the Crisis of the American Order (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The latest war engulfing the Middle East risks being portrayed as a 
local clash between rival states. In reality, what is happening can only 
be understood within the context of the crisis of the international 
order, constructed by the United States, and the difficult transition to 
a new global balance. --- For over forty years, US dominance has been 
based on a combination of military superiority, financial centrality, 
and control of global trade flows. Today, this model is showing clear 
signs of crisis. The rise of China and other Asian economies calls into 
question the United States' ability to maintain the centrality of the 
dollar and its financial market as the obligatory reference point of the 
global economy.

In this context, control of energy resources takes on a meaning that 
goes far beyond simple supply. The United States no longer needs Middle 
Eastern oil as it once did, but it continues to have an interest in 
controlling the energy flows on which its competitors and allies depend. 
The Venezuelan affair, the Ukrainian conflict, and the tension with Iran 
can be interpreted as different episodes in a global competition for 
control of energy infrastructure and trade routes.

Iran occupies a crucial position. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the 
main transit points for global oil trade. For this reason, the 
confrontation with Tehran takes on a significance that far transcends 
the regional dimension. Israel, a key US ally in the Eastern 
Mediterranean, is also pursuing its own strategic agenda aimed at 
consolidating its regional hegemony, ethnically cleansing Palestinian 
territories, and eliminating its main competitors in the area.

However, the project faces significant obstacles. The Iranian state 
apparatus has demonstrated a resilience beyond the expectations of many 
observers, and the threat of a restriction of traffic in the Strait of 
Hormuz would affect not only Asian economies but also numerous US allies.

The situation, however, must be seen within the context of an even more 
profound transformation. As Giovanni Arrighi observed in "Adam Smith in 
Beijing," China's rise challenges not only the distribution of global 
wealth but also the idea, entrenched in Western ruling classes, that the 
center of the world economy must necessarily coincide with the West. 
Behind America's resistance to the relative decline of its hegemony lie 
not only economic and strategic interests, but also a long tradition of 
cultural, political, and historically colonial superiority.

The current crisis is also intertwined with the ecological crisis and 
the material limits of growth. The integration of billions of people 
into the global market has generated a growing demand for energy, raw 
materials, and consumption. China invests heavily in renewable energy 
but continues to have enormous energy needs; the United States is 
focusing on digital infrastructure and data centers that require 
increasing quantities of energy and water. Competition for resources is 
destined to intensify.

In this scenario, an increasingly evident contradiction between capital 
and territory emerges. Global financial capital continues to use the 
United States as a privileged platform, but this no longer necessarily 
aligns with the long-term interests of American society. We are thus 
witnessing a progressive decoupling between the logic of financial 
accumulation and that of state power.

The war against Iran therefore appears not as a sign of the unchallenged 
strength of the American empire, but rather as a manifestation of its 
difficulties. The old power is no longer able to govern the system as it 
once was, while no new power yet possesses the capacity to build a 
stable order. The result is growing international instability.

It is clear to us that there are no fronts to support in this contest. 
There is nothing to be gained by choosing between US imperialism and 
that of the emerging powers, between Israeli nationalism and Iranian 
authoritarianism. Those who pay the price for this competition are 
always the people involved.

The instability sweeping the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia 
isn't born from the madness of a few leaders: it stems from the crisis 
of a world order no longer capable of guaranteeing the mechanisms of 
accumulation that have sustained it for decades. In this scenario, there 
are no just wars, nor progressive imperialisms. There are populations 
dragged into conflicts they didn't choose, and ruling classes seeking to 
unload the cost of their own crisis onto war. This is why libertarian 
internationalism isn't about choosing which power should prevail, but 
about building universal opposition to war, to the states, and to the 
economic system that produces it.

Stefano Capello

https://umanitanova.org/instabilita-internazionale-iran-israele-e-la-crisi-dellordine-americano/
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