EDITORIAL
A New Era in West Asia
The Erosion of Hegemony and the Rise of Regional Agency
he international landscape that emerged from the US-Israeli attack on Iran has become one of the most important indicators of the profound transformation in the balance of power, not only in West Asia but across the world. The aim of the attack was to prevent Iran from remaining a regional power, re-establish US-Israeli superiority, and bring West Asia back under the security framework defined by Washington. Yet the outcome was the opposite. The direct intervention of the United States demonstrated that its military superiority alone was insufficient to determine regional outcomes. Israel’s aggression, rather than uniting the countries of the region along the US-Israeli line, strengthened the tendency of these countries to determine their own security and future themselves.
These developments are manifestations in West Asia of the major shift in the balance of power in the world. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the weakening of its influence in Iraq, the failure of its attempt to partition Syria, and the failure of Israel’s plans for regional hegemony are all part of the same process.
At the foundation of this transformation lies a profound change in the world economy. The centers of production and accumulation in the world economy are shifting; the relative superiority of the capitalist centers over the world economy is eroding; and, as a political consequence, the old hierarchical structure of the imperialist system is being shaken. The struggle of the imperialist centers to preserve their superiority in the world economy is deepening their contradictions with the developing world while also sharpening competition among themselves.
One consequence of this is the differentiation within the Atlantic camp in its approach to the developing world. Differences of interest between the United States and Britain, Germany, and France are deepening. Countries occupying lower positions within the Atlantic system are also able to develop positions that differ from Washington’s line. While the necessity for the imperialist centers to act jointly against the developing world is becoming increasingly pressing, competition among them is pulling them away from a common position and deepening their contradictions.
The developing world states, despite the competition and differences of interest among them, are increasingly coming together under these conditions in the areas of common development, security, and cooperation, despite having different political systems and on the basis of sovereign equality.
These conditions are enabling the countries of West Asia to develop more independent choices regarding their own security and regional relations. Saudi Arabia’s development of strategic relations with China while maintaining its relations with the United States, and its preservation of normalization with Iran; Turkey’s development of security cooperation with Iran, Iraq, and Syria, while at the same time deepening its relations with China and Russia, demonstrate the efforts of the countries of the region to free themselves from the imperialist centers. What is at issue here is not the replacement of one external power by another, but the ability of states with different systems to establish areas of common interest concerning their own security and development on the basis of sovereign equality.
A new order has not yet been fully established in West Asia. The military and economic power of the United States remains significant, and differences of interest among the countries of the region persist. Yet the old order no longer functions as it once did. The shift in the balance of power in the world is creating the objective conditions for nation-states to strengthen their independence against imperialist hegemonism. The countries of West Asia are also demonstrating greater agency in determining their own security and future. The Mecca Agreement, signed on August 7, 2026, is a concrete expression of this agency.
FİKRET AKFIRAT
Editor-in-Chief