Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

The United States of America has mastered the art of reverse Sun Tzu. The US doesn't subdue the enemy without fighting. Instead, it engages in perpetual wars, without understanding its opponent or even itself. From Ukraine to the Middle East, the US is callously setting pivotal regions on fire, while contemplating a calamitous war in Asia. 

Even while the US-EU-NATO proxy war against Russia is faltering spectacularly, the US and its allies have brazenly started another war in the Middle East. With its connivance of a relentless and cruel war on Gaza, the US has become an accomplice to a humanitarian disaster, raised the odds of a region-wide war with terrifying implications for the world's economy, weakened the Middle East's long-term security and destroyed US' influence, regionally and globally.

Let's start with the harrowing situation in Gaza, where Israel has dropped 65,000 tons of mostly American bombs and missiles since October 7, 2023. The death toll is horrifying: 67 percent of the more than 14,000 people killed in Gaza are estimated to be women and children. The physical injuries and psychological trauma are so horrendous that the head of Doctors Without Borders testified, "Children as young as 5 tell us that they prefer to die."

Gaza, a tiny strip of 11 kilometers x 40 kilometers, is not only the world's most densely populated region; it has also been described as a "concentration camp" and an "open-air prison." Already 1.5 million Gazans, including 600,000 children, have been turned into refugees and are now living in tents in the southern half of Gaza, facing the possibility of permanent ethnic cleansing - Nakba 2.0.

The US could have easily prevented this disaster. Instead, it is aiding and abetting Israel. Three times since the conflict started, the US has vetoed cease-fire resolutions at the UN Security Council. 

Moreover, the US is not even supporting the delivery of water, food, medicine, fuel and electricity to Gaza. The US has also cut off funding to UNRWA, the most critical organization aiding Gaza. The cynicism and barbarity of the so-called Western civilization are obscene.

US politicians and media endlessly cry about human rights only when it suits their political agenda - such as their lies about the Uygurs to destabilize China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

As China, Russia and many others have pointed out, the only viable and enduring solution is Palestinian statehood with a two-state solution based on the 1967 border. Interestingly, that is also the official position of the US and Europe, who are playing a deceptive game with Palestinian lives. 

Looking at the big picture, one would find that the US empire's actions are puzzling and self-defeating. The ramifications for the global economy would be devastating, especially if and when the war involves Iran. Sadly, nothing is off limits for the declining but delusional US empire. 

The Pentagon and US think tanks have been consistently fantasizing about everlasting unipolar hegemony. One example of their hubris: US General Wesley Clark revealed that, immediately after the 9/11, the Bush administration had planned to take out seven Middle East countries in five years.

However, even after two decades of disastrous military adventures in that region, US elites have learned nothing. 

Consider how the US and the UK are bombing Yemen's Houthi rebels who have been attacking - and sometimes capturing or sinking - Israeli and Western ships in the Red Sea as a retaliation for the destruction of Gaza. The Houthis, who seem astonishingly immune to US attacks, are shooting down $30 million US drones, and have become the first in the world to use anti-ship ballistic missiles.

Another daunting group in the region is the Hezbollah, the world's most heavily armed non-state actor. With its formidable arsenal of ballistic, anti-tank, anti-air and anti-ship missiles, the Hezbollah can pull Israel and the US into a decade-long war of attrition.

Meanwhile, US military bases in Iraq and Syria have been under constant attacks from a myriad of resistance groups. Plus, the Iraqi parliament has reiterated its decades-old demand: Go home Yankees. 

Back in the US, Kellogg's is promoting cereals for dinner, because poverty is skyrocketing. Homelessness and suicide rates are at record levels, and the country is so polarized. However, oblivious to all these domestic crises, the US military-industrial-media-complex is driving the nation into an abyss, while endangering the rest of the world.

Contemporary Middle Eastern leaders of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Iran and others in the region are visionary. For example, Saudi children are learning the Chinese language, and Prince Mohammed bin Salman is building futuristic cities. These leaders are working with China and BRICS to focus on trade, development and cooperation. A post-Pax Americana world is emerging, and it will be free from the anti-Sun Tzu dogma of the Empire of Chaos. 

The author is a geopolitical analyst, columnist, blogger, podcaster, and writer based out of Bangalore, India. His work can be found on Substack, X and more. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn