A unipolar world order dominated by the US means one thing: One centre of power, one centre of force, one centre of decision-making; a world of one master, one sovereign. In the diplomatic arena, such language is not used.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a frontal attack on the George Bush administration at the Munich Security conference attended by delegates of 40 nations, including leading US Senators. He charged the Bush administration for breaking international law and making the world a more dangerous place to live in.

Describing the dangerousness of the situation developing in the world-order, he said the US has broken international law and overstepped its boulders in all spheres - economic, political, humanitarian - and has imposed itself on other sovereign States.

A unipolar world order dominated by the US means one thing: One centre of power, one centre of force, one centre of decision-making; a world of one master, one sovereign.

In the diplomatic arena, such language is not used. That is why the denunciation of US policy at the high-level security conference put off many policy makers, strategists and administrative circles in the US. It has its impact all over the world in diplomatic and other thinking sections. Had President Putin couched his inner thoughts in diplomatic diction, the impact would have been less. Putin is a cool and calculating nationalist who chose to speak frankly and boldly against a unipolar master.

When the US attacked Iraq disregarding the UN Security Council and reservations of Germany, France and Russia, the reason put forth was that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was clandestinely producing weapons of mass destruction. The subsequent failure of the US in providing any evidence of bioweapons in Iraq went against it. Nobody bought the argument that Saddam was hanged by the special courts for charges levelled against him by the local Government.

Putin saw a calculated move by the US for deployment of missile-systems in central Europe. He said this could trigger a new arms race. He was totally unconvinced that Iran and North Korean developments were the main reason for the installation of defence and radar systems in the pacific and Czech Republic. "Washington has recently moved its largest sea-based missile defence radar in the Pacific from Hawaii to the Aleutian Islands, not far from Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. It has also announced plans to install a radar system in the Czech Republic and a missile interception system in Poland which needs to protect itself against a potential threat from Iran..."

At an annual news conference in the beginning of February, Putin called Washington's justification of the missile shield unconvincing, and pledged to amend Russia's military strategy.

Putin's remarks bring back cold-war memories. After the disintegration of Soviet Union, the Russian economy had collapsed. After Gorbachev and Yeltsin, a lot of water has flowed down the Volga. The Russian economy is back on rail. Russia today is confident.

US' unipolar power may look unchallengeable but nearly half-a-dozen nations are slowly emerging to make the world multipolar.

The US response to Putin's tongue lashing was aimed at cooling Russian tempers. Bush's national security spokesman calls Putin's accusations "wrong." But he says the White House expects to continue working with Russia on counter-terrorism and to reduce "the spread and threat of weapons of mass destruction."

Meanwhile, the Russia-China-India foreign ministerial talks are on. The idea of this triangle has been floating around for some time. The three nations are working on the co-operative mode, especially in economic affairs, though the fact remains that all the three are also competing with each other.

In 1998, Russian PM Primakov floated the idea of this partnership during his visit to India. Shortly thereafter, Chinese vice-premier Wu Xueqian discussed the same with his Russian counterpart though he appeared discouraging.

Last week, Foreign Ministers of India, China and Russia, Pranab Mukherjee, Lee Zhaoxing and Seregei Lavrov, met in New Delhi. Earlier, the three representatives had met in 2002. Last year, the elevated meeting took place on the sidelines of G-8 summit at Pittsburgh. If the coming together of three mighty nations works out, it would play an important role in global affairs and no one nation, howsoever mighty, would run international affairs.

These are no ganging up operations against the US. For, all the three nations also need US co-operation in one or the other field. But yes, the ti-up would go a long way in curbing US' ambition to dominate the world. Whatever Putin said at Munich, may be blunt and undiplomatic but it is not aggressive. It is no pre-war axis formation. More than half a century has passed since the two World Wars and world affairs have undergone a sea change. If a world war happens now, the planet will not survive.

Courtesy: www.dailypioneer.com, February 25, 2007