NEWSLETTER
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers has expressed concern that a growing number of countries, including China, Russia and the Middle East, are aligning and gaining global influence. “I think (it is) a great challenge for the United States,” he warned.
Larry Summers on countries uniting against the US
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers expressed concern on Bloomberg TV Friday about an increasing number of nations coming together and gaining global influence against the US. He made the comments on the sidelines of the IMF spring meetings. International (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington DC
Summers is currently the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University. He previously served as Director of the National Economic Council and Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, as well as Chief Economist of the World Bank.
He explained that a growing number of countries are lining up on the opposite side of the US, explaining:
There’s a growing acceptance of sharding, and perhaps even more worryingly, I think there’s a growing sense that ours may not be the best shard to associate with.
The former Treasury secretary shared: “Someone from a developing country told me, ‘What we get from China is an airport. What we get from the United States is a conference.’”
Recently, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited China and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Lula said on Saturday that Brazil’s relationship with China “goes beyond that phase of exports of raw materials.” The Brazilian president also urged developing countries to abandon the US dollar as the global reserve currency. China also recently brokered talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two big oil-producing rivals in the Middle East. Iran and Saudi Arabia later agreed to restore ties and reopen embassies seven years after the break in relations.
Commenting on deepening ties between the Middle East and China, Summers opined:
I think what’s happening in the Middle East — Chinese-brokered diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran is symbolic of what I think is a huge challenge for the United States.
Additionally, OPEC+ members including Saudi Arabia and Russia recently agreed to cut crude oil production. OPEC+ is a group of 23 oil-exporting countries that meets regularly to decide how much crude to sell on the world market.
The economist added: “We are on the right side of history, with our commitment to democracy, with our resistance to aggression in Russia.” He opined:
But it looks a bit lonely on the right side of history, as those who seem much less on the right side of history increasingly come together in a wide range of structures.
Summers added that the US government must address this new challenge. “If the Bretton Woods system does not work strongly throughout the world, there will be serious challenges and proposed alternatives,” she warned.
Do you agree with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers that the growth of Middle East-China-Russia relations is a US concern? Let us know in the comments section.
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