Here is an opinion by one Constantin von Hoffmeister in Russia Today titled: Here’s why the West-centric world order is doomed. I agree that Russia Today is a better read for more honest and critical analyses of issues.
The writer Constantin von Hoffmeister says that the West is out of touch with a fast changing world. The world is brilliantly multi-polar. Reading this article I applied Hoffmeister's arguments to the Islamic world. The Islamic world is not only out of touch with the real world but they are floating out to sea on a yet to be defined 'Islamic life raft'. (Hint : It does not float).
This is truncated. My comments in blue.
Liberal universalism, for all its claims of celebrating “diversity,” operates as a force of erasure, denying every culture’s intrinsic worth
(OSTB : This is exactly the same thinking of the Islamists. Islam shall rule the world. They want to make the Islamic car (green colour?), Islamic banking (al-Jewish?), Islamic sports (long pants for running?, no women?), Islamic economics (al-Jewish?), Islamic culture (what is that? Arabian desert culture?)
The unipolar era is collapsing, and in its place rises a new world, shaped by distinct centers of power, each bound to its traditions, values, and histories. Multipolarity rejects the artificial imposition of a single worldview, instead proclaiming the beneficial heterogeneity of human existence. It is a call to rediscover the strength of firmly established identities and to embrace a stabilized global order.
(OSTB : Nope. No way. The Islamists go in the exact opposite direction. There shall be only one center of power - the global Islamic caliphate with only one tradition, one set of Arab based values and one Arabian history. The Muslim Brotherhood is trying this one more time. Erdogan wants to be the Ottoman Sultan of Anatolia again. Multi-culturalism does not fit the Islamists).
For centuries, the world was lorded over by empires that sought to impose their singular, myopic vision upon all peoples. Liberal universalism, with its insistence on assimilating the world into one model, has failed to create harmony. Multipolarity, on the other hand, recognizes that genuine coexistence depends on respecting the uniqueness of each civilization. It seeks not to erase differences but to create a world where each culture thrives on its own terms, contributing to a dynamic and unadulterated global reality.
(OSTB : Nope. No way. Do you all recall this slogan 'Neither East nor the West, Islam is the best'. Here is my simple view - the Islamists have been losing terribly to the fiercely competitive world. The world has been competitive since Mrs Originalos first went to the farmer's market.
This is what the Islamists do not understand - there is only one philosophy in the entire world. That is competition. And competition is diversity itself. This is WRITTEN IN STONE in the Quran :
Surah 2:145 وَلِكُلٍّۢ وِجْهَةٌ هُوَ مُوَلِّيهَا ۖ فَٱسْتَبِقُوا۟ ٱلْخَيْرَٰتِ ۚ
"For each person he has a direction to face, so compete with one another in good works.."
فَٱسْتَبِقُوا۟ ٱلْخَيْرَٰتِ (fas-tabiqu al khairaati) - compete with one another in good works
Everyone has his own direction. But that is not a barrier for competing in doing good works.
A profound transformation is underway. Multipolarity marks a return to the natural state of a world composed of many civilizations, each pursuing its destiny. This revival is seen in the resurgence of ancient powers such as Orthodox Russia and Confucian China.
These nations are not relics of the past but living civilizations, reconnecting with their historical roots to take their proper places in the present. They reject the unipolar dictatorship of the Atlanticist model, which imposes liberal democracy and market capitalism as universal truths.
OSTB : Both Russia and China have gone through the clinical disinfection process of over 70 years of Marxism where "religion" was banned. All religions. From Christian Russians to Muslim Caucasians to Mongolian herdsmen to Chinese Buddhists they were all weaned off their religious heritage and made to start on a new level - based on logic and common sense alone. Today (although communism has failed economically) there is a sense of fraternity in Russia that transcends religion and a sense of purpose in China that highly values cooperation among human beings. The focus is to produce - not to worship. Agree or disagree China is the world's largest economy, Russia is the world's No. 1 military superpower and the largest economy in Europe (larger than Germany and the UK). And most of this has happened since 1989.
At the heart of multipolarity lies ethnopluralism – the recognition that distinct peoples cannot be blended into a single identity without destroying what makes them unique. Ethnopluralism opposes the liberal dream of the “melting pot,” viewing it as a forced amalgamation of disparate cultures. Instead, it argues for the coexistence of separate communities, each displaying its characteristics within its own boundaries.
Multipolarity is a counterbalance. It defends the sanctity of each culture, illuminating the true beauty of mankind in its authentic diversity. Civilizations are not interchangeable, and their differences are not problems to be solved but treasures to be safeguarded. The multipolar order seeks to preserve these distinctions, creating a world where unique cultures coexist without being tyrannized by an alien entity.
Multipolarity deconstructs the racist agenda by affirming the dignity of all cultures and rejecting the moral superiority falsely claimed by any one civilization. It invites us to move beyond the colonialist hierarchies that have erected the modern world, creating a space where all peoples can chart their destinies free from external coercion.
OSTB : Nope. No way. The Islamists go in the exact opposite direction. No ethno-pluralism. There shall be only one culture - the Arabian desert culture. All women must assume the hijab. Arabic shall be the language of choice. In our country even HRH the Sultan of Johor has questioned this Arabisation. The Islamists are convinced that is the only way. They are doomed.
Multipolarity, by contrast, allows for the free development of all cultures, each contributing to the broader movement of history. Hegel’s dialectic reminds us that authentic progress is born from contradiction, and multipolarity represents a resolution of the tensions inherent in the unipolar era. The rise of multipolarity is not an end but a continuation of mankind’s historical journey.
The renewed world order will not be dictated by a single power imposing its will on the rest. Instead, it will be an orchestra of civilizations, each of them a potent instrument of ethnocultural expression. Multipolarity promises a world where power is distributed and cultural integrity is upheld, creating the possibility for genuine cooperation.
Originally published in RT 19th January 2025
OSTB
: Undeniably this is happening in front of our very eyes. Look at the rise of Japan, China and Russia. As well as Europe and the United States (we cannot write off either Europe or the United States - they will be around for a very long time to come). In the midst of all this forward momentum, and which is gaining momentum, you suddenly have the unproductive 'Islamists' popping up and saying 'we will show the way for the world'. Most Islamic countries do not have internal plumbing (toilets) in all their house. They are suffering serious delusions.
