Ukraine war shows West's dominance is ending as China rises,

Ukraine war shows West's dominance is ending as China rises, Jul 18, 2022 0:55:57 GMT

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Post by the Scribe on Jul 18, 2022 0:55:57 GMT

Reuters
Ukraine war shows West's dominance is ending as China rises, Blair says
www.yahoo.com/news/ukraine-war-shows-wests-dominance-081913221.html

Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Vinnytsia
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Ukraine war shows West's dominance is ending as China rises, Blair says
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves the BBC Headquarters after appearing on the Andrew Marr Show, in London
Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Vinnytsia
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves the BBC Headquarters after appearing on the Andrew Marr Show, in London
Guy Faulconbridge
Sun, July 17, 2022 at 4:19 AM
By Guy Faulconbridge

LONDON (Reuters) - The Ukraine war shows that the West's dominance is coming to an end as China rises to superpower status in partnership with Russia at one of the most significant inflection points in centuries, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said.

The world, Blair said, was at a turning point in history comparable with the end of World War Two or the collapse of the Soviet Union: but this time the West is clearly not in the ascendant.

"We are coming to the end of Western political and economic dominance," Blair said in a lecture entitled "After Ukraine, What Lessons Now for Western Leadership?" according to a text of the speech to a forum supporting the alliance between the United States and Europe at Ditchley Park west of London.

"The world is going to be at least bi-polar and possibly multi-polar," Blair said. "The biggest geo-political change of this century will come from China not Russia."

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has killed thousands and triggered the most serious crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when many people feared the world was on the brink of nuclear war.

President Vladimir Putin says the West has declared economic war by trying to isolate Russia's economy with sanctions and the Kremlin says Russia will turn to powers such as China and India.

The war in Ukraine, Blair said, had clarified that the West could not rely on China "to behave in the way we would consider rational".

Chinese President Xi Jinping has continued supporting Putin and criticised sanctions "abuse" by the West. Putin has forged what he calls a "strategic partnership" with China.

China in 1979 had an economy that was smaller than Italy’s, but after opening to foreign investment and introducing market reforms it has become the world’s second-largest economy.

Its economy is forecast to overtake the United States within a decade and it leads in some 21st century technologies such as artificial intelligence, regenerative medicine and conductive polymers.

"China’s place as a superpower is natural and justified. It is not the Soviet Union," said Blair, who was prime minister from 1997 to 2007. Its allies are likely to be Russia and Iran.

The West should not let China overtake militarily, he said.

"We should increase defence spending and maintain military superiority," Blair said. The United States and its allies "should be superior enough to cater for any eventuality or type of conflict and in all areas."

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Ukraine war shows West's dominance is ending as China rises, Blair says
Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Vinnytsia
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves the BBC Headquarters after appearing on the Andrew Marr Show, in London
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Ukraine war shows West's dominance is ending as China rises, Jul 18, 2022 0:58:11 GMT

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Post by the Scribe on Jul 18, 2022 0:58:11 GMT

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I would agree with everything he said except how to prevent it. It’s not going to be a nation-state war and thusly, we don’t need to invest in nation-state warfare capability. Rather, the way to prevent it is to:
Much better protect our intellectual property. This might involve decentralization of the internet which is how it was originally set up. Decentralization would make intellectual property theft, targeted computer attacks, and other bad actions a thing of the past.

Bring manufacturing back to the United States. We need to be a net exporter, not a net importer. China has set up manufacturing in “rings” and that’s worked exceptionally well for them. We need to “ring” our manufacturing as well but we would need Central and South America’s help. Our equivalent of their outer ring (high tech and quality, specialty equipment, etc.) needs to be in the US. The middle ring (cheaper goods and commodities, textiles, items that don’t require extreme precision, etc. we can farm out to Central and South America as they can do it more cheaply than us). The third ring (reserve manufacturing) we could also reserve for Mexico and southwards.

Put the same types of property/land acquisitions and sales restrictions that other governments place upon non-national citizens. We cannot allow our land, property, businesses, minerals, etc. to be acquired by foreign entities the way we do. Other countries place significant restrictions or disallow it outright. We need to do the same.

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It was modern conservatism and Republicans whose wealthy elite and transnational corporate overclass that moved our factories and jobs to China and elsewhere all in the name of profits and political power (to shut down unions and labor). They pushed this supply side trickle up free market economic scam which they still hold onto today. Listen to any hate radio broadcast daily and they are still pushing it. They made their moves in the 1970s beginning with the Powell Memorandum as its blueprint and the wealthy elites took it from there. The wealthy have always used many methods to accumulate wealth, but it was not until the mid-1970s that these methods coalesced into a superbly organized, cohesive and efficient machine. After 1975, it became greater than the sum of its parts, a smooth flowing organization of advocacy groups, lobbyists, think tanks, conservative foundations, and PR firms that hurtled the richest 1 percent into the stratosphere. THIS IS AT THE ROOT OF OUR PROBLEMS.

Post by the Scribe on Jul 18, 2022 0:55:57 GMT

Post by the Scribe on Jul 18, 2022 0:58:11 GMT

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