The tragic death toll of innocents in Gaza – asnd also in Israel – justly occupies the world's attention, and led to an extraordinary virtual meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation's foreign ministers on Sunday. With a membership of 57 states and representing nearly 2 billion people, the OIC sees itself as "the collective voice of the Muslim world" and as such issued an appropriately hard resolution after the meeting.
It condemned "in the strongest terms the barbaric attacks launched by Israel, the occupying authority, against the Palestinian people and their land and holy sites" and demanded the "complete and immediate stop of these attacks that have affected innocent civilians and their properties, in gross violation of international law and United Nations resolutions on the question of Palestine".
The same day UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council that "the fighting must stop immediately". Just as with the Association of South-East Asian Nations' recent meeting on Myanmar, however, there is a question mark about what actions will follow words, welcome as they may be.
All three organisations – the OIC, the UN and Asean – are very worthwhile endeavours with considerable achievements to their names. But these have been principally as a result of their great convening powers, and lie more in the fields of community- and consensus-building and co-operation than in confrontation.
We know this. At the same time, however, the loss of life, of children in particular, is so egregious and one-sided that there is near unanimity that the horrors must be stopped. The Biden administration’s block on a Security Council statement calling for de-escalation and condemning Israel’s evicting Palestinian families in East Jerusalem appeared to be seriously out of step not only with global opinion but with members of his own party.
Great powers will act, as they always have, as though they have the right to bend or break these norms occasionally
"The US vetoed the UN call for ceasefire," tweeted Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. "If the Biden admin can't stand up to an ally, who can it stand up to? How can they credibly claim to stand for human rights?"
It is not just the current White House and its much-vaunted stance on "values". The credibility of these international bodies in general is on the line. As is the whole notion of "the rules-based international order". For what does this "order" mean if it has no power to stop Myanmar's military junta killing civilians, on top of the ethnic cleansing it had already perpetrated on the Rohingya? What are those "rules" and to whom do they apply if the Israeli authorities can get away with committing what many, including the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, consider to be war crimes in Gaza?
Some argue that the "rules-based international order", a term much usedby the Biden administration but also by US allies in Europe and Australia, not only does not exist, but that it shouldn't. Prof Patrick Porter, author of The False Promise of Liberal Order, wrote that: "If faithfully observed, the idea that the world should revolve strictly around laws and their enforcement would quickly destroy a country's ability to have a foreign policy." He spoke of the time Amnesty International demanded the Canadian government arrest former US president George W Bush, while he was on a visit, for his part in torture.He spoke of the time Amnesty International demanded the Canadian government arrest former US president George W Bush, while he was on a visit, for his part in torture. "Canada, surprisingly, resisted the temptation, deciding that it had other interests at stake in its relationship with a neighbouring superpower – such as survival."
You don’t have to go as far as Mr Porter to have sympathy for the view that the US has set the “rules” and then “ordered” everyone else to obey them – while granting itself dispensation to flout them whenever it wants. Thus Russia is condemned for its annexation of Crimea and China for its actions in the South China Sea and the Himalayas, but America’s long history of supporting coups against democratically elected leaders is fine, as is the open hypocrisy of insisting China adhere to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea even though the US has never signed up to it.
Harvard’s Stephen Walt recently suggested that there is an international order – we are evidently not in a state of global anarchy and chaos – but “the issue is not the United States’ preference for a ‘rules-based’ order and China’s alleged lack of interest in it; rather, the issue is who will determine which rules pertain where.”
Either way, just about everyone would surely agree that we need some international norms, either codified legally or backed by sufficient agreement to have the force of law. Geo-political realists would also accept that great powers will act, as they always have, as though they have the right to bend or break these norms from time to time, especially in what hegemons regard as their “near abroad” or “sphere of influence”.
But Israel and Myanmar are middle powers, not great ones, and yet their current leaders act as if their bluffs will never be called. They seem to have few inhibitions about contravening the “rules” of the “international order”. In the case of Myanmar, the armed forces constitute so extensive a military-industrial-commercial complex that they probably could withstand reverting to isolation. On the other hand, while the OIC cannot realistically be expected to do too much against Israel, the pressure that the country's greatest ally and supporter, America, could exert is considerable.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shows no sign of relenting, though, announcing on Sunday the bombing of Gaza would continue at “full force”. Doubtless we will hear of other heart-rending stories such as the eight young Palestinian cousins killed at the weekend, a father losing his wife and four of his five children as a result. Israelis who want peace and security will suffer too.
So while all this is going on, let us hear no more hollow words about the “rules-based international order”. It either does not exist, or it is a piece of sanctimony enforced so grotesquely unequally that it belongs on the dustheap of values, not falsely promoted as a universal panacea for peace, justice, freedom, fairness and good governance.
Sholto Byrnes is an East Asian affairs columnist for The National
While you're here
Four reasons global stock markets are falling right now
There are many factors worrying investors right now and triggering a rush out of stock markets. Here are four of the biggest:
1. Rising US interest rates
The US Federal Reserve has increased interest rates three times this year in a bid to prevent its buoyant economy from overheating. They now stand at between 2 and 2.25 per cent and markets are pencilling in three more rises next year.
Kim Catechis, manager of the Legg Mason Martin Currie Global Emerging Markets Fund, says US inflation is rising and the Fed will continue to raise rates in 2019. “With inflationary pressures growing, an increasing number of corporates are guiding profitability expectations downwards for 2018 and 2019, citing the negative impact of rising costs.”
At the same time as rates are rising, central bankers in the US and Europe have been ending quantitative easing, bringing the era of cheap money to an end.
2. Stronger dollar
High US rates have driven up the value of the dollar and bond yields, and this is putting pressure on emerging market countries that took advantage of low interest rates to run up trillions in dollar-denominated debt. They have also suffered capital outflows as international investors have switched to the US, driving markets lower. Omar Negyal, portfolio manager of the JP Morgan Global Emerging Markets Income Trust, says this looks like a buying opportunity. “Despite short-term volatility we remain positive about long-term prospects and profitability for emerging markets.”
3. Global trade war
Ritu Vohora, investment director at fund manager M&G, says markets fear that US President Donald Trump’s spat with China will escalate into a full-blown global trade war, with both sides suffering. “The US economy is robust enough to absorb higher input costs now, but this may not be the case as tariffs escalate. However, with a host of factors hitting investor sentiment, this is becoming a stock picker’s market.”
4. Eurozone uncertainty
Europe faces two challenges right now in the shape of Brexit and the new populist government in eurozone member Italy.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, which has offices in Dubai, says the stand-off between between Rome and Brussels threatens to become much more serious. "As with Brexit, neither side appears willing to step back from the edge, threatening more trouble down the line.”
The European economy may also be slowing, Mr Beauchamp warns. “A four-year low in eurozone manufacturing confidence highlights the fact that producers see a bumpy road ahead, with US-EU trade talks remaining a major question-mark for exporters.”
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
Results
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
SPECS
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Mane 51', Salah 53'
Chelsea 0
Man of the Match: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Brief scores:
Arsenal 4
Xhaka 25', Lacazette 55', Ramsey 79', Aubameyang 83'
Fulham 1
Kamara 69'
The distance learning plan
Spring break will be from March 8 - 19
Public school pupils will undergo distance learning from March 22 - April 2. School hours will be 8.30am to 1.30pm
Staff will be trained in distance learning programmes from March 15 - 19
Teaching hours will be 8am to 2pm during distance learning
Pupils will return to school for normal lessons from April 5
