Tariffs and ‘Nuclear’ Threats of A New Cold War

The book addresses the complex and uncertain conflict and trade dynamics currently unfolding as a threat to global insecurity, propelled by the Russia-Ukraine-NATO war, the Israel-Palestine-Iran conflict, the China-AUKUS-IPEF conundrum, the global shock unleashed by COVID-19, coupled with climatic disasters, global trade and tariff wars, and the swift advent and use of artificial intelligence in warfare. The purpose is to provide intellectual support for the dynamism of an emerging multilateral order and technological revolution rooted in the UN Charter (that remains the only essential legal and moral framework for managing complex, global challenges that lead to conflict relics of the 21th century tyrants), and is a call to reinforce a rules-based global system while adapting it to 21st century realities for the benefit of humanity.These New Cold War and trade war undercurrents are eroding global governance institutions and rendering them toothless to face these transnational challenges. While the 'mad man theory' may provide some respite for those who believe that these doomsday political actors may fade away, these conflicts have exacerbated the cost in human lives, national debt levels and unbearable cost-of-living crises that threaten global peace in the 21st century. The solutions like the challenges are more complex: indeed, even against the backdrop of the universal quest to foster multilateralism and global cooperation, the world is facing the spectre of a new Cold War that could shape new non-ideological rival blocs. As UN SG Guterez warned us, "humanity is one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation" - a stunning reversal of globalisation's peace and prosperity dividends.