Why global response to US actions is muted

Jaipur: Speakers at a session titled "New World Order" at Jaipur Literature Festival Monday said the restrained international reaction to recent US actions in Venezuela and the threat of occupying Greenland revealed deeper fractures in the global rules-based order and exposed emerging geopolitical vulnerabilities, particularly for Europe.The discussion featured political philosopher Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, former UK politician Vince Cable, and writer Rana Dasgupta, in conversation with journalist Suhasini Haider.
Guardiola-Rivera observed that India's response to US actions in Venezuela was notably muted, adding that there was little emphasis on the international rule of law in official reactions. He said this restraint was mirrored across Europe, a development that drew particular attention in Latin America."For many in Latin America, the silence was striking—not just from India, but from Europe as well," Guardiola-Rivera said. He argued that the perception in the region was that if the United States sought to reassert influence over its so-called "backyard", that sphere no longer appeared limited to Latin America alone. "Europe is increasingly being drawn into that orbit," he said, warning that many European capitals were slow to recognise the implications.Referencing recent geopolitical rhetoric, Guardiola-Rivera noted that what began with talk of influence over Latin America could extend further. "When former President Trump says it could be Cuba, it could be Colombia—what follows next? We already saw signals with places like Greenland," he said, suggesting a broader challenge to established norms of sovereignty.Reacting to the new world order, Cable said the shape of the coming world order would be difficult to predict but impossible to ignore. "What new kinds of order come out of this is very hard to foresee, but it is certainly going to be very interesting—and terrifying," he said.Looking ahead 20 to 30 years, Cable predicted the emergence of 3 major economic superpowers—China, India and the United States—alongside influential middle powers that often escape sufficient attention. "Countries like Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil will matter much more than we currently acknowledge," he said.Cable argued that the future would not resemble the post-war Old World Order, but rather a looser system driven by necessity. "There will have to be cooperation because of compulsions. On climate change, for example, cooperation is existential and simply sensible—govt will act because they have to," he said.Describing this evolving framework, Cable referred to the concept of "variable geometry", where alliances and partnerships shift depending on the issue at hand. "There will be many variables, many arrangements—but that is the kind of world we are heading into," he said.