Pakistan Signs the Iran Pipeline Deal
By Riaz Haq
CA
In clear defiance of the US campaign to isolate Iran, Pakistan last week formally signed an agreement for the construction of a 560-mile, $7.5 billion gas pipeline from Iran's South Pars gas field in the Gulf through Pakistan's Balochistan province to Sindh province. The agreement with Iran came within days of America's announcement of plans to push stricter sanctions against Iran, and just days before the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue in Washington.
"By connecting itself with the world's second largest gas reserves, Pakistan would guarantee reliable supply for decades to come," US energy analyst Gal Luft told UPI.
Pakistan is not alone in brushing aside the reservations of the world's sole superpower. Just last week, the Israelis did the same when they announced plans to build 1600 new units in occupied East Jerusalem during Vice President Joseph Biden's visit. Subsequent denunciations of Israeli actions by the Quartet (UN, Europe, Russia and US) and angry rhetoric in Washington has only served to strengthen the Jewish state's resolve to go ahead with the settlement construction on Palestinian land.
Turkey, Brazil and China have in the past month each delivered timely snubs to Washington's push for sanctions against the Iranian regime, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal. Russia joined the list of snubbers when it surprised the US delegation last week by announcing that it plans to help Iran launch its first nuclear reactor by July just as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrapped up her Moscow visit.
Strangely enough, a country like India which prides itself on its independence in setting foreign policy, is out of tune with the rest of the world in its decision to pull out of the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project under intense US pressure. It seems India is quite satisfied with access to US nuclear technology in exchange for obeying Washington on Iran.
The United States no longer enjoys the kind of unchallenged superpower status it did immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In spite of the fact that the US economy is still the world's largest accounting for 27% of global GDP, and its military is the most powerful with the ability to project American power around the globe, there are increasing challenges to its authority by many nations. In fact, the current US situation is best explained by its parallels to that faced by the Vito Corleone character in the classic movie " The Godfather", as described by " The Godfather Doctrine", a foreign policy parable by John Hulsman and Wes Mitchell.
It seems that the elaborate framework of international institutions that US helped architect and build after World War II, such as UN Security Council, NATO, World Bank, OECD, WTO, IMF, and IAEA, through which America exercises tremendous power and control, are being weakened partly due to America's own missteps, and my guess is that these alliances and institutions will not survive beyond the next few decades. There will be a huge realignment of nations, as the powerful new players, including China, Russia, Germany, Japan, Brazil, India, South Africa want a greater say in the affairs of the world. So do the Iranians, the Koreans, the Turks, the Pakistanis and the Arabs. With their growing economic power, the Chinese are already beginning to take steps to replace the US dollar with Chinese yuan as a major reserve and trade currency in the world.
The US-India nuclear deal, and India's decision to abandon the IPI gas pipeline, and the growing India-US ties appear to be part of a larger realignment in Asia and the world. There is an effort by the US to "co-opt" India as a close ally in the emerging new world order.
