For quite a while, the West has imposed its order and dominance over 2nd and 3rd world countries. I want to touch on a few points in this area.
What's interesting is that the latest military strategy papers - revised because of the Ukraise crisis - are vage and often mention regaining some status in the world for their nation.
But the West has actually projected its dominance over the rest of the world, and now they are sad that they are not number one in the world anymore or at least, that there is serious competition now.
Starting with colonialism and later, selling out their natural resources for cheap under pressure of the CIA and other secret services, they were dependent on what the headstart of the West produced (high tech, weapons).
But they have caught up and need the West a lot less than they used to. The capitalist system is funny insofar as that it breeds its own antagonists. Outsourcing and cheap manufacturing is nice, but - together with autocratic absolute systems - this leads to the problems the West is facing today - the leaders of the BRICS countries have formed a bloc of their own and currently leapfrog the West in terms of financial markets, financial power and start buying up Western companies, harbors, railways etc.
The grip of the Western secret services and bullies, USA military bases, trade agreements etc. is diminishing and countries are becoming more independent and/or gravitate towards these BRICS countries as their new protectors and trade partners.
Funny how the West is surprised by this. Secret services and trade ministries in the West have surely noticed that it is not so easy anymore to get access to cheap labor and cheap natural resources anymore, but in the public Western media it is presented as "a new danger" that Xi Jinping for example has extended his reign and just 1/2 years before, Wladimir Putin has done the same judicial changes and keeps himself in power. Wonder oh wonder.
What happened:
It is funny, how the capitalist system likes to sell stuff to less-developed countries in its own interest, but in doing so, creates its own competition, because they also learn from the technology and become increasingly independent. Paired with rich natural resources and a nationalistic development strategy in the East, the West's capitalistic system creates its own competition. What used to be a tool for power - we give you a bit of money, you give us your cheap labor and products and natural resources - is turning against its inventor.
The West is still trying to enforce rules onto the East, like how they are supposed to use their natural resources. For example, that they should not use coal for cheap but dirty energy. The West has done this itself before, but with coal and other fuel-driven engines created so big climate problems that the East should now stop using the natural resources they are sitting on. So the West wants to deny the East the same mass-usage of natural resources that they once did. That of course creates tensions.
The East beats the West at its own game of creating financial markets and using the capitalist system. The West cannot use natural resources as the advantage any more, they are depleted. The West cannot use higher population, better education or higher knowledge any more, the East has it on its own. More natural resources, more people, pretty much the same knowledge, less ethical restrictions, same amounts of money, strict political systems - all is working against the West.
The East is the "next wave" so to speak, the question is who survives (culturally, financialy, technologically, militarily) once the waves have settled. The simple outsourcing and geo-arbitration of costs does not work anymore.
A nation can become overwhelming in power, if:
... all leading to the ability to dictate to others. And this is what we are starting to see from Russia and China. The above points in combination with autocratic absolute systems of power with the drive for domination lead to the developments we are now seeing.
Seeing that many of the natural resources are in regions with such political systems, like Africa, China, Russia and the Arabian Region, we can only expect more tensions and more unstability.
The West needs to innovate instead of resting on its laurels in order to keep up with the East and BRICS countries.
There must be clear statements and strategies for the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years what goals should be achieved otherwise political party infighting will just waste the power of the West, further weakening its position.
The West must find a solution to its energy requirements, an energy source that does not need solar panel parks in Africa, oil or gas from Russia or South Americal or coal from Asia or Africa. Oil companies, car manufacturers, secret services and Western shadow governments supposedly already have these in their drawers, whether that is true or not, but if so, it would be time to let these out to save the West. Either way, there is pressure for the finding and publication of a new revolutionary energy source.
The West must find a solution to its raw material requirements - otherwise accept that most products will come from BRICS countries, at increasing prices - but maybe there is a new technology on the horizon, which allows for synthesis of materials using a new energy source. Or natural non-fossile materials like wood are used more in high-tech ways.