“No eternal allies and no perpetual enemies, just eternal and perpetual interests” is a foreign policy maxim that’s been worn to cliché from repeated use. But its lesson endures even in a time of heightened strategic rivalry where the US in particular is attempting to build a geopolitical camp.
It’s now widely acknowledged that many low- and middle-income countries are transactional rather than ideological, recognising neither allies nor enemies but only business partners.
This is a tendency for which the US might now be grateful. It finds itself the target of fierce international criticism, particularly among developing economies, for aligning itself with Israel during the bombing of Gaza. Even India, diplomatically close to Israel and which at one point tried to ban pro-Palestine demonstrations, supported December’s UN resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.