Dr. Mohamed Abdallah Younes‏‏

The reality that all maps of the world are wrong might be an appropriate starting point for understanding the new global geography. The two-dimensional representations of the globe that we use every day to follow international developments impose their own limits on our understanding of the state of the world and power dynamics in our world order. A glance at the often-used Mercator map shed lights on how this projection of the world has distorted our understanding of space. The Mercator projection favors the Global North over the South, thereby continuing longstanding colonial hegemony over how we think about space. For example, Africa is actually three times larger than the United States and is also larger than Russia, even though it appears otherwise on the Mercator projection. Meanwhile, India is larger than the Scandinavian countries combined, and Russia and Canada do not cover more than 5 percent of the Earth’s landmass. However, on this map of the world the latter two appear to make up about 25 percent of this area.Hao’s Imperial ProjectionChina has taken the initiative to redraw the map of the world to depict shifts in international relations. In 2013, Hao Xiaoguang, an expert at the Chinese Academic of Social Sciences, designed a "vertical" map of the world that has gained acclaim in Beijing’s elite cultural circles. It depicts a Chinese vision of the geographies of the future—a world dominated by China, with shipping routes stretching from Beijing (located in the middle of the map) around the world. The new map also depicts a future ice-free Arctic route, while Europe— which dominated map-making for decades—is relegated to a corner, as economic centers shift eastwards and climate change takes front and center.This Chinese imperial vision of the world draws on an historical legacy and Beijing’s vision of itself as a civilizational leader and ascendant economy, in addition to its control of global supply chains and geopolitical ambitions with its immediate neighbors. It also places the trade war with the West in a geographic context that envisions an alternative world beyond Washington’s containment strategy. The US has besieged China at sea through a network of alliances, military bases, and its military presence in the South China Sea and nearby maritime choke points, especially the Strait of Malacca.Stoking Map WarsChina is not the only country redrawing the world map. There is growing global recognition that the Mercator map has bolstered Western-centric viewpoints of transnational dynamics for many decades. This is not only a visual issue, but rather reflects a full-fledged approach to framing international relations, commerce, and cultural hegemony.The multilateral conflict over producing geographies of a new world order magnifies the geopolitical realities at play for traditional great powers, emerging powers, and their mid-sized counterparts. Each player is trying to locate themselves at the center of this new world and as the main axis for international dynamics. This explains the unprecedented leap in new land and sea corridor projects that have multiplied in the last decade and seek to reduce time and global trade costs, and to avoid choke points and hotspots of tension and conflict that could hinder supply chains. Some international actors also aim to promote themselves as current or future junctions for trade routes and money, data, and energy flows.The ongoing map wars include the Global South, which is exerting significant pressure, both in blocs and as individual countries, to develop new and more just maps that more accurately depict the relative size of nations with regard to population and natural resource distribution as well as development gaps. These new maps also seek to reflect how different countries and international institutions deal with global issues including climate change, trade, and security.Understanding the New WorldThere are many conflicting maps of this new world whose features have gradually emerged through successive shifts within complex contexts characterized by uncertainty and volatility. The preliminary features of the maps of this world that is still taking shape include the following:1. Coexistence of Geopolitical Contradictions: It is not possible to definitively identify a single dominant phenomenon or trend in global dynamics. However, there are global currents mixed with local and regional trends (glocalization), connection coexisting with separation, interaction alongside isolationism, and nationalism alongside globalization. The roles of various international actors overlap within very complex networks and constantly-evolving dynamics.2. Ongoing Shifts in Borders and Regions: The geography of this new world does not assume imperatives of place and space, permanent givens, or stable divisions between various key components of this world. Various phenomena have become increasingly important, including dynamic borders and regional connectedness, while interregional zones and intermediate areas have become sites of international rivalries over influence, such as the Indo-Pacific and Eurasia. Conflict has also erupted over the north and south poles and there is fierce competition over the map of outer space and control of the orbits around the Earth.3. A Multi-Polar World: There is no sign of potential global consensus among the major powers to address cross-border threats. Global and regional polarization has become an overriding characteristic of international relations, from the West’s efforts to deplete Russia to US attempts to cordon off China and prevent it from accessing sophisticated technologies, as Western companies move their supply chains away from Beijing. There are also key powers in various regions of the world that have sought to demonstrate their influence and ability to exert power, whether through mobilizing armed militias, fueling proxy wars in conflict hotspots, or pursuing economic, military, and cultural penetration in their areas of influence and in neighboring countries. Meanwhile, countries in the Global South are trying to ensure their clout in the new world through developing international blocs and exerting pressure on international organizations to rethink global agendas for environmental and economic development issues.4. Redrawing the Energy and Resource Map: The global interest in rare earth metals has also contributed to redrawing the resource map, as conflicts erupt over control of lithium, copper, nickel and cobalt reserves due to interest in new energy and green energy resources. Meanwhile, oil and gas remain crucial to contemporary industrial progress.5. Conflict over Data Flows: International competition is not limited to material resources but also extends to virtual flows including internet cables, data centers, advanced microprocessor and semiconductor manufacturing, and data. These have become invaluable resources in the AI age and have sparked full-blown economic wars to determine control over creating, processing, and using data in ways that are unprecedented in human history.6. Unprecedented Spread of AI: AI is the undisputed center of this new world as it expands its applications across all fields and is increasingly used in task management and in daily life. AI is moving from the business sphere to tangible products with diverse uses and huge investment potential for development. However, the world is dealing with the challenge of a lack of frameworks governing the use of AI, as well as concerns regarding out-of-control AI or its use in multi-purpose lethal weapons. This has caused uncertainty and fear.7. Exceptional Interest in Environmental Threats: The most important threat that world faces today is climate change and the ongoing degradation of the Earth. This leaves humanity facing an uncertain fate with implications that could affect many spheres of life, and comes amidst warnings about imminent environmental collapse and the effects of natural disasters and global pandemics, as humanity is quickly pushed to the brink.In the context, we have launched Regions 2024 to give the Arab reader a new academic compass for navigating this new map of the world with its evolving features, guided by InterRegional for Strategic Analysis’s philosophy for analyzing global developments through transregional dynamics. We take the region as the key unit of analysis in bringing together similar geographic units with shared identities, cultures, opportunities, and threats. The dynamics between these geographic blocs shape the state of the world today.The key question is not where the Arab world stands within these contradictory maps of new international relations, but rather whether it will be possible to create an alternative Arab map of this future world based on shared interests, current capabilities, and a holistic vision for the future of the region and its potentials. This approach offers different possibilities than simply seeking a particular standing within agendas developed by other actors.

Navigating a New Global Map with Evolving Features