COVID-19 global pandemic has lethally affected the entire world. It has shut down states’ borders, created economic, social, psychological, and emotional damages to individuals, families, communities, and even nations. Further, it triggered a rapid local, national, regional, and international changes and modulations. This global calamity increased the pressures upon states’ leaders and societies at large. It forced states’ leaders to implement strong “lockdowns” policy measures to contain and repress the spread of the virus. To some extent, this global pandemic pushed some countries toward rigid isolationism and strict protectionism. Above all, beneath the daily struggles on how to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, there are some hidden dimensions of animosities and strong rivalries among some countries around the world. If we go further with an opted precise lens and zoomed closer, we will glimpse a clear sign of power struggles for global domination. It is clear, many countries are struggling and quarreling in order to become a global power. At this point, the crux of our focus centers on the United States as the current dominant superpower and its rivals. Evidently, at this moment, the People’s Republic of China is, indeed, the major rival to the United States’ global supremacy. Indubitably, the strife between the US and China for global dominance is archaic and a recurring phenomenon. Obviously, the geopolitical climate in pre-COVID-19 manifested the undeniable tensions between China and the US. Yet, the pivotal point, we believe, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic intensified the tensions between the US and China. Furthermore, it rapidly drives the two countries toward ferocious cold war or/and lethal military confrontation. As a result, we at The Key Group believe that the US and China are entering a new era of fatal competition for global supremacy. From this perspective, we argue that the world is, indeed, at the tipping point of a new global geopolitical dimension. Therefore, it is reasonable to declare, the end of the COVID-19 global pandemic is the beginning of the new world order. If this is the case, and in order to find our place in the new world order, then it is logical to investigate and answer the following critical questions:
- What the world ought to be in post-COVID-19?
- Can China rise peacefully as a global power?
- What are China’s global geopolitical leverages (soft power) besides its economy?
- Will China choose direct military confrontation with the US?
- Which countries will ally and cooperate with China against the US?
- How and in what levels the US will respond to China’s peaceful expansion and/or military aggression?
- Can the US stay idly while China continues its growing global expansion?
- Will the US stay passive, quiet, and allow China to take its global primacy?
- Will the US be able to mobilize its allies, and multilaterally defeat China, and uphold its global position?
- What are the effects of new technologies and telecommunications, and especially the role of the fifth-generation cellular networks (G5) in the struggle between China and the US for global primacy?
- What is the role of the UN and other transnational organizations?
- What will happen to the countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America?
- What will happen to global trade, businesses, and the economy in general?
- What is the feature of the new world order will look like, and where is our place in it?
- What are the positive and negative impacts of the new world order for our life and for our entire planet earth?