China, the war in ukraine, the Middle East and the Venezuelan direction of the United States of America as signs of the transition to a conflict-ridden world order and threats to sustainable development, food security, and natural resources

Abstract

The article analyzes the transformation of the contemporary world order through the prism of four interrelated crisis vectors: China’s structural rise as an alternative center of economic, technological and infrastructural power; the war in Ukraine as a direct challenge to international law, European security and global food chains; the Middle East as a humanitarian, energy and ecological frontier of modern geopolitics; and the Venezuelan direction of the United States of America as a manifestation of the renewed struggle for political transition, energy resources and influence in the Western Hemisphere. The aim of the study is to determine how these processes indicate the transition toward a conflictridden world order and how they generate threats to sustainable development, food security and natural resources. Methodologically, the research is based on qualitative documentary analysis, hermeneutic interpretation of political texts, international reports and scientific literature, as well as comparative assessment of four crisis cases. The proposed analytical approach combines geopolitical criteria with sustainability-oriented criteria, including military intensity, humanitarian gravity, pressure on sustainable development, food security impact, natural resource pressure and global polarization. The results show that the current crisis of world order cannot be reduced only to the weakening of international law or the redistribution of power among great actors. It also involves the destabilization of agrifood systems, maritime routes, energy markets, water access, land resources, mineral extraction, reconstruction capacity and environmental resilience. The article argues that the world is entering a phase of conflict polycentricity, in which several centers of power simultaneously compete for influence while conflicts increasingly undermine the material foundations of sustainable development.