Preliminary
On October 18, U.S. Eastern Time, the U.S. Embassy in Colombia was closed for some reason.
Outside the embassy, protesters threw firebombs, leaving the museum empty; on the other side of the world, Trump was showing a high-profile video of the US military sinking a submarine.
On the one hand, it is the embarrassing retreat in diplomacy, and on the other hand, it is the high-profile ostentation in military affairs. What kind of truth is hidden behind the strong contrast?
Empire is rugged.
October 19th, a day that appears to be normal, has become the autumn of many things in the United States.
Colombia and Bogota.
The iron gate of the U.S. Embassy was locked, but there was no one inside, leaving only a cold statement.
Outside the door, flames soared into the sky.
A group of masked men, with incendiary bombs in their hands and even bows and arrows, stormed at the outer wall of the embassy.
Four Colombian police officers in charge of security fell in a pool of blood. They covered their wounds, and their eyes were full of confusion. They didn't understand why the embassy of friendly countries became a battlefield.
The trigger for all this lies thousands of miles away in Gaza.
Colombian President Petro, in a rage, ordered all Israeli diplomats to get out within 48 hours because Israel intercepted a rescue ship carrying Colombian citizens, and abolished the free trade agreement between the two countries.
As Israel's best friend, the United States immediately retaliated and revoked Petro's visa to visit the United States.
Petro was harder, directly let his foreign minister also throw the US visa, and also recalled the ambassador to the United States, the relationship between the two countries dropped to the ice.
The anger ended up burning at the US embassy.
Just as the news of the attack on the embassy broke, Trump posted another message on social media, accompanied by a video that lasted about 30 seconds.
In the picture, a submarine is floating on the sea surface, like a tired iron whale.
Suddenly, a missile came down from the sky, dragging a long tail flame, precisely hitting the back of the submarine.
A huge noise, a fire sparked the sky, the submarine instantly broke into two pieces, the black debris sinked rapidly, leaving only a large piece of oil dirt on the sea surface.
Trump proudly announced that this was a strike launched by the US military based on "exact intelligence". A "drug submarine" was destroyed, killing two of four people and capturing two prisoners.
This is the fifth U.S. ship to be killed in the Caribbean since September, with 27 people dead and disappearing in the deep seas.
The U.S. said the vessels were all from Venezuela, but the Venezuelan authorities did not admit it, saying the U.S. was deliberately seeking excuses for using arms.
Venezuelans were very nervous. President Maduro directly ordered a national mobilization, and even the indigenous people called for the formation of militias, looking ready to fight for their lives.
Neighboring countries such as Mexico and Brazil also panicked. They publicly warned that if the US military regards firing as a common occurrence, won't Latin America become the backyard shooting range of the United States in the future?
These three events, the attack on the embassy, the sinking of the submarine, the regional panic, occurred on the same day, like three mirrors, depicting the three sides of the imperial rust.
A malfunctioning machine
These three things seem to be isolated, in fact, are the ants on a rope.
Behind them, there is a clear transmission mechanism, like a “inner cold” starting from the outside.
The original source of the virus was the unconditional support of the United States for Israel.
This act, which directly sparked the colombian anger, sparked a sharp diplomatic rebellion, which was the first wave of shock.
Faced with diplomatic isolation and embarrassment, the United States habitually launched its Plan B: military deterrence.
So, in the Caribbean, the “Drug Fight” show again, which is the second wave of shock, it tries to shift the eye with hardness to recreate dignity.
But the problem is that today’s America is no longer the America you can want.
Each point of its hardness will trigger an equally strong counter-effect in the country.
Just as Trump is busy showing off his muscles to the outside world, a bigger storm is brewing in the United States.
On October 19, large-scale protests broke out in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, the most important cities in the United States.
Millions of people marched onto the streets with signs of “opposing violent deportation of immigrants” and “removing the National Guard,” marching from Manhattan’s Central Park to Trump’s Building, the head of the squad could not wait.
What's even more ironic is that Schumer, the Democratic leader of the Senate, also appeared in the protesters in New York, standing with the demonstrators.
This is no longer a simple expression of the public opinion, it is clearly a continuation of the party's struggle in the streets, it is an open split in domestic politics.
To add insult to injury, the U.S. government, the world's largest machine, is currently in a "shutdown" state.
Because of the two parties' quarrels, the budget failed, about 800,000 federal employees were forced on unpaid leave, national parks were closed, social welfare was suspended, and even aviation controls were largely delayed due to lack of personnel.
This is a typical “turbulence cycle,” a cycle that starts with external intervention, through diplomatic counter-repression, to military adventures that eventually trigger a complete closure of internal crises.
The system of the empire, like a chronically ill patient, was at first only attacked by the embassy, then domestic protests, and now the government has begun to shut down.
This is no longer a simple internal and external problem, but an inevitable process in which a system is moving towards "immune excessive". It overreacts to external stimuli and is helpless to deal with internal contradictions.
The Awakening World
The increased signal was first perceived by the world.
In the past, we were accustomed to looking at America’s face and listening to American instructions.
It says “anti-drugs,” and everyone follows it; it says “anti-terrorism,” and the world goes out together.
The United States is like a "teacher", holding the standard answer to define "justice" and "evil", while other countries are mostly "students" who follow suit.
But now everything has changed.
Look at Colombia. This former "model student" has now become the bravest "refuter".
The Petro’s administration not only dared to say “no” publicly to the United States, but also expressed its anger in the most violent way of recalling the ambassador.
Brazil's Workers 'Party has publicly condemned the United States for violating international law, and Mexico's foreign minister also stepped forward, saying that the United States' actions could lead to greater conflicts.
Even Bolivian President Alzheimer, who has always been modest, has directly pointed to the CIA, accusing it of small actions in Venezuela.
For the first time, Latin American countries, a land known as the "backyard of the United States", are so united and voice so unanimously: Enough!
The same anger, burning on different shores.
In the United States, the protests of millions of people form an astonishing mirror image with the resistance of Latin American countries.
What they protest is the same tough policy of the Trump administration and the same arrogance that ignores the feelings of others.
As the Colombian police covered their wounds and looked at the burning embassy, the protesters in New York, far away, may also be complaining about this distant country.
The resonance of people has gone beyond national boundaries.
This means that the United States is losing its most precious thing-the right to narrative.
In the past, it could easily package a military operation as “justice enforcement” and describe a diplomatic friction as “the other’s recklessness.”
But now no one believes that saying.
What we can see is that a so-called “drug submarine” may be just a means of living for an ordinary fisherman; a so-called “drug operation” may be just a dirty geopolitical game.
When the former "students" began to publicly refute the "teacher" 's assertion, and when the "teacher" 's own family also began to question his practice, it was a turning point of the times.
Overture to the Future
The dawn of the Empire, the dawn of the multipolar world.
But that doesn’t mean that we can stand up, nor does it mean that a better world will come automatically.
On the contrary, we are in a dangerous power vacuum, a painful period in which the old order is disintegrating and the new order has not yet been established.
In the future, we will see more “systemic crises” like the U.S.
It can happen in a once powerful country, or it can happen in a seemingly solid international organization.
Because in an interconnected world, any failure of a single node can trigger a chain reaction of the entire network.
What should we do in the face of such a future?
The first is to give up the illusion of a “Savior” that neither the United States nor any other country can provide the world with the only solution.
Each of us, every nation, must be the rulers of our own destiny.
Second, we need new thinking and new tools to understand and manage this complex multipolar world.
Here, I provide a simple "Crisis Linkage Assessment Guide": When you see a crisis event, don't look at it in isolation and ask yourself four questions.
1. What is the core contradiction of this incident?
What are the seemingly unrelated events?
3. What secondary crises may it cause?
What potential impact does it have on ourselves?
This simple tool can help us keep a clear mind and see through the nature of crises in the fog of information.
Finally, and most importantly, we need the courage and wisdom to build a new consensus together.
The future world order cannot be based on the hegemony of any country, but must be based on the common interests and mutual respect of all countries.
This requires dialogue, compromise, and transcending narrow nationalism to find the common values of all mankind.
What we need is not to cheer for the end of the old age, but to think and act for the birth of a new order.
conclusion
The decline of the empire has never been an earth-shaking collapse, but began with a series of daily routines of "powerless".
The shift of narrative power is an irreversible trend, and the future belongs to those countries and people who can provide fairer and more inclusive solutions.
How do you think we should handle ourselves in this new era of multipolarity? Should we embrace change or stick to the past?