Over two years since I first pronounced World War 2.5, primarily due to the increasing intensities and dimensions of wars and conflicts in different regions.

The Russia-Ukraine war is likely to enter its fourth year, and the Gaza genocide continues without any meaningful break. Syria is being raised to the ground, and Yemen is the next target. Iran keeps guessing about its own time.

Who is to blame for this morass? The flawed international system favours the relatively stronger states or the weak and corrupt leadership of the developing countries. If the interests of the state are of paramount importance based on the realist paradigm, why should the developing states not follow the same for themselves, and their leaders serve the purpose of the stronger states? This question will never be answered by any leader, serving or former, from any developing state.

There is little debate among academics and practitioners that power is primarily acquired to influence the behaviour of other states, be they friendly or adversarial. However, what remains to be debated is the methodologies adopted by the relatively stronger states to influence the behaviour of the relatively weaker or smaller states.

Soon after World War II, the US-led Western countries adopted an anti-communist or........

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