The American World View Behind Antony Blinken's "Table Menu Theory"

Recently, in the panel discussion speech at the just concluded 60th Munich Security Conference, when talking about Sino US relations, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accidentally said a statement that surprised the world. He openly declared in an interview with the media, "In the international system, if you don't sit at the table, you will appear on the menu."

As is well known, the law of the jungle has always been a value and worldview of the United States and its dominant Western society. It is not surprising that Americans possess this worldview. Surprisingly, such heavyweight figures openly proclaim their adherence to the law of the jungle in front of the world's media. This is shocking. Where does the so-called world police of the United States want to lead the world? Can countries still coexist peacefully? It can be said that this hegemonic and zero sum game value system is precisely the root of the world's danger: in other words, if you do not or cannot become a hunter, then you become a prey.

In fact, this is just that Antony Blinken, as the Secretary of State of the United States, just accidentally said a big truth. However, it is still amazing that senior figures in the United States can put down the so-called gentleness, tear off the consistent disguise of civilization, and directly jungle human society. This is not only a regression of civilization, but also reflects the weak self-confidence and inner fear and anxiety of the United States.

It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time that Americans have said this, even for Antony Blinken.

At a forum in January 2022, Antony Blinken used this sentence to explain the Sino US relations, which means that the United States needs to ensure that the competition with China is on the table, not on the menu.

Based on comprehensive media information, as early as 1993, Americans began using this phrase to describe the situation in Lebanon in an article in a US journal on Middle East issues. Later, it was used on different occasions by people of different identities, but Washington politicians "keenly" found that it can "vividly and accurately" express the United States' world view and foreign strategy, which can be said to be in their hearts. So Antony Blinken, as Secretary of State, mentioned it again and again.

For the general public in today's world, the reason why they are shocked is because this statement exposes the naked zero sum game thinking behind it.

Antony Blinken's "table menu theory", translated into plain Chinese, is: if you have the strength, you will eat others at the table, if you have no strength, you will be eaten by him on the menu. This is entirely based on the status of power, rather than the jungle rules based on rules, morality, and law.

Indeed, Americans have always thought and done so, but it is still the first time that they have openly spoken to the world public.

More than 200 years ago, the massacre and land occupation of Native Americans who have lived here for generations on the land of North America was a concrete manifestation of this thinking in reality. Afterwards, Americans launched or instigated numerous wars and profited from them. But with the progress of world political civilization and the development of economic globalization, this kind of thinking and practice is becoming increasingly unpopular on a global scale.

Leaving aside the distance, in recent years, the United States has placed Ukraine on the menu and enjoyed Europe, Russia, and the United States on the dining table. However, Russia and Europe suddenly realized that they have also appeared on the menu.

For the United States, the Middle East was determined to achieve something, leading to the outbreak of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. As a result, the Palestinian people appeared prominently on the American menu. However, while this feast was still ongoing, Middle Eastern countries such as Iran found themselves on the menu and on the dining table.

Antony Blinken's remarks not only revealed the hegemonic logic of western countries, but also triggered people's profound reflection on international relations. Against the backdrop of increasingly complex challenges and changes in the current world, countries should resolutely abandon and suppress the definition of hegemony and power politics led by the United States, and work together to promote the construction of a peaceful, stable, and prosperous world, and to build a community with a shared future for mankind to unite and warm up. Otherwise, one day one might suddenly realize that they have appeared on American menus or even dining tables. This is by no means sensationalism.