FLASH
Shkruar nga Gjergj Zefi
The collapse of the US-led liberal order is opening up the race for influence in the Balkans, exposing Albania to a harsher, more unpredictable world without its former guarantees.
The US is retreating from the post-'45 liberal architecture, leaving room for authoritarian power, new rules of naked interest, and a world where the Balkans must survive without the guarantees it has had for 80 years.
For decades, the United States was the main pillar of the liberal world order. It set the rules, created the institutions, and guaranteed the security on which much of global prosperity was built.
But today, it is America that has decided to withdraw from this historic role. This is the moment when the post-World War II order is no longer being challenged just by China or Russia, but is being dismantled from within, by those who once built it.
Recent American administrations have shifted the focus from multilateralism to bare national interest.
Protecting free trade, strengthening international institutions, or respecting international law are no longer seen as strategic priorities, but as obstacles that "harm America."
The Secretary of State put it bluntly: the liberal international order has become “a weapon against us.” This language is not just rhetoric; it legitimizes American withdrawal from the global rules system, creating space for authoritarian actors to shape new norms according to their interests.
When the US abandons the architecture it built, the world enters uncharted territory. China is building its own parallel economic network, Russia is creating military precedents from Ukraine to Africa, and the West is more fragmented than ever.
In this reality, common rules are no longer guarantees; they are options. International institutions are no longer arbiters; they are hostages to geopolitical crises. Alliances are no longer indestructible; they depend on elections, moods, and domestic political cycles.
For small countries like Albania, this transition is more dangerous than it seems. We are a state that relies on international law and collective guarantees, not on force. The weakening of the liberal order means fiercer competition in the Balkans, more influence from authoritarian actors, and a climate where American priorities may shift toward Asia, leaving our region with less attention and less systemic protection.
This is the moment when Albanian diplomacy must be more vigilant than ever: to strengthen the partnership with the US, to deepen integration into the EU, but also to develop autonomous capacities to navigate a world where rules are no longer guaranteed. The old order is collapsing, but the transition to the new order will be long, harsh and filled with uncertainty.
Albania cannot cope with this era of automation; it needs strategy, clarity, and a foreign policy that correctly reads this new global reality./ Pamphlet
Po por kush do ta politiken e jashme Hajdutet qe dine vetem te vjedhin Atdheun.
Politika e jashtme eshte si kozmetike por, gjithshka zhvillohet brenda organeve te trupit. Mendje e shendoshe ne nje trup te shendoshe, thone doktor mavrite. T'majt e jotja, kon pas thone Tironsit e vjeter. Te gjithe rrine me vegel ne dore pe t'pallu femrat e shtepise e thiken ne doren tjeter me ta ngul mbas shpine. Ti i shite tere njerezit me te mire ne dhe te huaj, ti i fale minierat e burimet minerale te te huajt, deri edhe copez ishull ia fale qenve te huaj, shit e shit cdo gje te te huajte deri edhe nderin. Kush qe ai i huaj e fqinj qe i beri te mire Shqiperise te mira? Jo Shqiperia por te gjitha kombet e shtetet luftojne me ate qe kane ngjitur e kane me afersi DNA se me ata te largmit. KIna eshte shembulli me i sakte te ecjes me kembet e tua. Jo po jane komunizem e procka te tjera, Kina eshte shtet kapitalist monopolist qe ka multimiliardere e tere po duan ta kopjojne ne autokracine e tyre. Ne vend te ulim koken te punojme ate cope kopesht qe na ka mbetur nga historia lehim e lehim per te fituar para me genjeshtra.
Amerika nuk terhiqet, thjesht po konfigurohet ne politiken e jashtme dhe te brendshme. Ne vijen e zjarrit kemi qene gjithmone , dikur ne gojen e ujkut,pastaj ne gojen e barbarizmit, sot ne gojen e narkoshtetit etj etj. Jemi shume te vegjel te jesh afer zjarrit. Thjesht jemi diku larg oxhakut qe e mbushin me dru te tjeret e ne ngrohemi pa qene ne gjendje te hedhim nje ashkel.jemi ne Europe dhe ky eshte fati yne. Kur tundet Europa do thyhet dhe ndonje filxhan tek bufeja jone. Tramp nuk eshte i perjetshem , por si do te jete nuk po na prek egsistencen. Thjesht kohe kalimtare si keto 35 vjet qe kaluam ne rrumujokraci.