The two guests of the "Opposite Direction" program have conflicted positions on who the Arab countries are supposed to bet on in light of the ongoing conflict between America and its allies on the one hand, and Russia and China on the other, and what is happening about a new multipolar international order that is taking shape.
The episode (2023/3/28) of the program "The Opposite Direction" wondered whether the world is on the verge of a new multipolar international order, the position of Arab country officials towards this system and the party they bet on, and the extent to which they benefit from this, as well as the reasons for their "rebellion" against America, which has been their ally for years.
Strategist Riad Eid believes that Arab countries have the right to diversify their relations because the world is facing a new international order, while the unipolar system is over and buried in Ukraine, and America must recognize the rising power from the east.
He said it was in the interest of the Arab world to turn eastward, as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did, because China was ahead of America economically, technologically and in artificial intelligence.
On the other hand, he accused America of exploiting and destroying the Arab region and planting the Israeli entity in it, and therefore it is the right of the Arab region to establish strategic relations with the Chinese and Russian power, and to speak to the strategist.
He defended Russia and China because, as he put it, they are fighting from a position of self-defense to establish a more just international order, while America is fighting in Russia's parks and trying to drain it through the Ukraine war, and is also fighting in the China Sea, as evidenced by its alliances with Beijing's neighbors and its deployment of military bases in the Philippines.
He stressed that the Russian Federation is different from the Soviet Union, which ended, and World Bank forecasts indicate that its economy is growing at a higher pace than America, whose economy suffers from inflation.
Losing bet
On the other hand, international affairs expert Magdi Khalil warned Arab countries against betting on China and Russia because they represent "hegemony and imperialism", saying that the international system still exists despite its weakness, and all that is in it is that there are efforts to destroy this system by Beijing and Moscow, and said that these efforts began since the meeting that brought together the Chinese and Russian presidents on the fifth of February 2022, where they announced a partnership without borders and the overthrow of America's hegemony, and weeks later he invaded Russian President Vladimir Putin Ukraine.
Khalil stressed that the Arab countries will lose if they bet on what he considered tyranny and dictatorship, and will be out of history and will be colonized again, stressing that the Arabs bet before on the Soviet Union and failed, and saw that Putin is the most dangerous because he does not know justice and resorted to mercenaries and criminals in Ukraine, Syria and Libya, which is the one who repeatedly threatens to use nuclear weapons.
He added that the model China offers in the world is authoritarianism and dictatorship, calling it a thief of Western technology, and that its neighbors are alienated from it.
While he said that the international system takes many years to form, the international affairs expert stressed that America has woken up after Putin's meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in February 2022, and has taken several strong measures to postpone the collapse of the international system, including making huge alliances, expanding NATO and the transatlantic partnership.