Strategic Panorama 2009 - 2010 - IEEE

Eduardo Serra Rexach
other; the Koreans mistrust the Japanese; and the Japanese fear
the resurgence of China, not to mention relations between India
and Pakistan.
2) The second challenge is the rise of Islamism, particularly bearing in
mind the serious conflict the Islamic world is experiencing today.
While most of the population is open to coexistence with other
cultures, a minority sector has become radical and believes that
this contact corrupts Muslim values. And so, while some countries
(Malaysia and Indonesia) are making positive progress, in others,
such as Pakistan, the future is much less clear.
3) The third challenge is the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
(dealt with in Chapter VI), specifically the arms race between
India and Pakistan, both of which possess nuclear weapons. No
doubt the most worrying scenario is the possibility of the Pakistani
government falling into the hands of Islamic radicals. China is also
a nuclear power and, as Portero points out, the ultimate guarantor
of North Korea. Nor should we rule out in this respect Japan and its
recent decision to remilitarise its defence.
But it is not only the Pacific region which commands the interest of the
new American administration. The globalisation of the economy brings
to the fore the problems of the United Nations system. Heir to the failed
League of Nations set up after the First World War, the UN learned the
lesson that it was necessary to include the Great Powers, but in order
for that to be possible they had to be granted certain privileges, notably
right of veto on the Security Council, the only decision-making organ in
the system (the resolutions of the General Assembly are merely recommendations)
and the system was thus pragmatic although unjust and
undemocratic. Today it is furthermore anachronistic, and this undermines
its legitimacy and, accordingly, its effectiveness and I consider that an
in-depth overhaul of the system is very necessary. The author very aptly
criticises the current situation but admits to not being hopeful about the
future of any reforms that are undertaken, although he believes that they
will be useful in dispelling the myth of what he calls «internationalist fundamentalism».
He ends his analysis by asking what the international system
currently being shaped will be like. He maintains that globalisation will
lead us to a more multilateral and associative world in which, now that
the Cold War blocs have disappeared, the leading actors will be a closeknit
network of very mixed organisations, some dating from the past and
others newly created. In this connection the author takes a look at the
world situation in which, in view of Russia’s inability to develop either a
— 21 —