In the aftermath of the Pahalgam incident in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) and the subsequent 5-day India-Pakistan war in May 2025, the world as a whole appears to be caught up in a fluid power struggle. China, a new emerging global leader, challenges a US-led unipolar configuration. A new global order is evolving as a 4th Industrial Revolution, led by China, defines global influence through artificial intelligence (AI) and digital data. The US approach to global dominance, shaped by the Cold War, i.e., dominance through military power - a zero-sum approach; implies that ‘you are with us or against us.’
Challenged by China, the US outlook is contested by an alternative to global supremacy through eco-power, development, and prosperity. Two orders now govern the world: the Trans-Atlantic and the Asia-Pacific, with the former defining a US sphere of influence and the latter a Chinese one. The Chinese sphere is growing exponentially, but it is contested by the US, which is trying to contain it. The Chinese influence, through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), affects three areas, i.e., across land (primarily Eurasia), the Maritime Silk Route, and the Digital Silk Route.
The US has mostly prioritised its interest in containing China’s growing influence in maritime expansion and digital technology. The historical truism that defines any power that can influence two ocean systems as a leading universal power is primarily why the US is concerned about preventing China from expanding from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean. This has led to the revival of the Quad, a maritime security agreement between Japan, Australia, India, and the US. With the reclaiming of the South China Sea Islands and their subsequent militarisation, the Chinese have enhanced their military reach and influence, prompting the US to establish other Indo-Pacific initiatives such as AUKUS, intended to contain the Chinese military footprint.
Yet, even if the Maritime-Silk-Route is contained by the United States, the dilemma still remains in containing the Digital-Silk-Route, which involves contesting cyberspace. Thanks to a revolutionary shift from information supremacy to AI domination, China is fast becoming the dominant player in this field and has already integrated 80% of the world into the Asia-Pacific Order as opposed to only 20% of the remaining globe in the Trans-Atlantic Order. This global divide by the US economic plan, i.e., Build Back Better (B3W), contests BRICS, whose practical manifestation is unfolding in the Chinese innovative BRI that evolves around the Digital Silk Route. The BRI has already incorporated Brazil, Russia, most of Africa, and some of Europe.
As each nation jockeys to position itself in what it sees as its national interest, a set of events influences the global paradigm. One, the Israeli genocide in Gaza, with unconditional support from the US. Second, the US-Iran standoff on the uranium enrichment issue, and third, the Russo-Ukraine War. The last appears to be leading to a total defeat of Ukraine, by implication, a strategic defeat of NATO, a huge military setback to Europe. With the US slowly withdrawing from the American Continent, especially after the Houthis of Yemen forced a US withdrawal in the Red Sea, Europe will now undergo significant changes in its security paradigm.
The US’s area of application is now limited to the South China Sea, where the US can contest the Maritime Silk Route. The US will likely pursue its contest of the Digital Silk Route through its strategic partner, India, by containing the Chinese BRI and disrupting the CPEC. Thus, India’s strategic relevance vis-à-vis. China, which has a role in containing the Maritime Silk Route and the Digital Silk Route, has grown hugely.
The writer is a retired army officer who has served as the head of Pakistan’s Central Command.
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