The end of the modern age and a return to the law of the jungle...

We began the first day of the new year with a powerful action on the Galata Bridge that reminded us of human dignity. Hundreds of thousands of people who came together in support of Palestine cried out not only about what is happening in Gaza, but also about the moral and legal collapse into which the global order has been dragged. Israel’s more than 75-year apartheid regime, the genocide carried out in Gaza, and unrestrained violence have ceased to be a singular arena of oppression and have turned into a model that reveals how the global system actually functions.

For a long time, the fundamental question occupying our minds was this: Would this lawlessness remain confined to Palestine, or would it spread to other geographies as well? Unfortunately, the answer did not take long to arrive. The principle of “justification,” which was suspended in the post–Cold War era, has now completely disappeared. Once, even if implicitly, there was a balance and a framework of legitimacy between the Warsaw Pact and the Atlantic Bloc. Today, power has replaced legitimacy.

The US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are the starkest examples of this new paradigm. Occupations carried out under the pretext of “my interests” left behind millions of dead, shattered societies, and countries stripped of state capacity. In Iraq, the fantasy of being “welcomed with flowers” ended with the loss of thousands of soldiers and a humiliating withdrawal. In Afghanistan, the Taliban were demonized and al-Qaeda was used as a pretext; in the end, the country was reduced to rubble and abandoned by being handed back to the Taliban. This picture clearly shows how instrumentalized the West’s discourse on human rights and democracy has become.

Israel’s unrestrained violence in Gaza is the peak of this process. There is a total hostility directed at people, animals, buildings, and green spaces alike. This is a “law of the jungle” order in which even the classical laws of war are rejected. Indeed, as Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has stated, the world has once again entered an era governed by the law of the strong. Moreover, this situation is even worse than the age of empires, because even then there were laws of war and a recognized status for prisoners.

Today, all states see themselves as being at risk. Over the past decade, nearly every country—the US, China, Russia, Europe, India, Pakistan, and African states—has been rapidly arming itself. Yet conventional weapons are no longer sufficient. Air defense systems, air power, land and naval forces, and sophisticated military doctrines capable of integrating these elements have become decisive.

At this point, China’s stance is particularly noteworthy. China builds economic relations with countries and secures energy resources, but it does not step onto the field in moments of military and political crisis. It has not assumed a deterrent role in interventions against either Iran or Venezuela. This shows that China is, in the long run, not so much a reliable strategic partner as it is an interest-driven economic actor. Iran’s mistake becomes evident precisely here: by turning toward ideological and fantastical ventures instead of regional alliances, Iran has been left alone in difficult times.

Within this picture, Türkiye’s position stands apart. Over the past 15 years, Türkiye has built serious capacity in its defense industry across naval, land, and air domains, and it does not view security as limited solely to its own borders. For Türkiye, Iraq’s security, Syria’s stability, and Iran’s continued existence as a strong state are directly linked to its own security. The same approach applies to Egypt and Saudi Arabia as well.

In the period ahead, it is clear that a security doctrine based on solidarity—one that inspires confidence in friends and provides deterrence to adversaries—will gain value over ambivalent and self-serving foreign policies. Türkiye’s vision in foreign policy and the defense industry will find a stronger response precisely on this ground.

Today, the United States’ military intervention in Venezuela, along with the arrest of the head of state and his wife and their transfer to the US, has clearly revealed a new phase in the global power struggle.

The Venezuelan people taking to the streets shows that this intervention is not merely an attempt at regime change, but also a move to seize control of energy resources.

As the world’s attention is focused on the possibility of a third world war over precious minerals, the US is increasingly pressuring countries that are part of China’s energy supply chain and tightening China’s access to oil and energy. In my view, this war will not break out over rare elements, but over oil.