3-Egoism in Global Politics: The West First, the Rest Forgotten

3-Egoism in Global Politics: The West First, the Rest Forgotten

I often hear Western leaders speak of “the international community,” as if it were a gathering of all nations, a shared table where voices from every corner of the world are heard. But when I look closer, I see that phrase is usually a mask. It means Washington, Brussels, London, Paris — a small circle deciding what matters, and what can be ignored. The illusion is inclusivity; the reality is egoism.

Syria made this clear. Millions of refugees fled war, yet the debate in Western capitals was not about humanity but about borders, quotas, and security. Refugees became statistics, risks, bargaining chips. Their suffering was acknowledged only when it threatened Western stability. The crisis was framed not as a moral duty but as a problem to be managed.

Climate politics tells the same story. Western nations lecture the Global South about responsibility, urging restraint and sacrifice. Yet they built their wealth on centuries of pollution and colonial extraction. When floods drown Bangladesh or droughts scorch Africa, sympathy is offered, but the system remains unchanged. Conferences are held, promises are made, but the priority is always the same: protect Western economies first.

Even in institutions that claim to represent the world — the United Nations, the IMF, the World Bank — Western dominance is written into the rules. Vetoes, voting power, financial leverage: all tilted toward the West. Aid comes with conditions, loans with strings, interventions with rhetoric about “global responsibility” that hides strategic interests. Multilateralism becomes hierarchy, solidarity becomes control.

From Algeria, this egoism feels like a constant reminder that our struggles are secondary. Algeria’s economic challenges, Sudan’s conflicts, Mali’s instability they matter only when oil, migration, or terrorism touch Western concerns. Otherwise, silence. The rhetoric of universal values collapses into selective concern.

The pandemic stripped away the mask completely. Vaccines were hoarded, patents guarded, profits prioritized. The language of “shared humanity” was drowned out by contracts and profit margins. The West first, the rest forgotten even in a crisis that demanded unity.

In the end, egoism in global politics is not just arrogance; it is a system. A system that ensures Western voices dominate, Western interests prevail, Western priorities define urgency. The illusion is that we live in one world order. The reality is that the order bends toward the West. To unmask this illusion is to insist that global politics must mean more than Western egoism it must mean equality, where the suffering of the many is not eclipsed by the comfort of the few.