Growing links between Middle East, Russia, China pose major challenge to US, former Treasury Secretary warns – Economics Bitcoin News

Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers has expressed concern that a growing number of countries, including China, Russia and the Middle East, are aligning themselves and gaining global influence. “I think [it] is a major challenge for the United States,” he warned.

Larry Summers on countries uniting against the United States

Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers expressed concern on Bloomberg TV Friday about a growing number of nations coming together and gaining global influence against the United States. He made these remarks on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington DC

Summers is currently the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University. He has previously served as director of the National Economic Council and Treasury Secretary in the United States, as well as chief economist at the World Bank.

He explained that a growing number of countries are aligning themselves on the opposite side of the US, elaborating:

There is a growing acceptance of fragmentation, and – perhaps even more disturbingly – I think there is a growing sense that ours may not be the best fragment to be associated with.

The former finance minister shared: “Someone from a developing country told me, ‘What we’re getting from China is an airport. What we get from the US is a lecture.’

Recently, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited China and met Chinese President Xi Jinping. Lula said on Saturday that Brazil’s relationship with China “goes beyond the phase of commodity exports”. 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 major oil-producing rivals in the Middle East. Iran and Saudi Arabia subsequently agreed to restore ties and reopen embassies seven years after breaking off relations.

Commenting on the deeper links between the Middle East and China, Summers opined:

I think what’s happening in the Middle East … the Chinese-brokered diplomatic relations between Saudi and Iran is symbolic of what I think is a big challenge for the United States.

In addition, OPEC+ members, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, recently agreed to cut crude oil production. OPEC+ is a group of 23 oil-exporting countries that meet regularly to decide how much crude oil should be sold 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 meant:

But it looks a little lonely on the right side of history, as those who seem much less on the right side of history are increasingly banding together in a whole range of structures.

Summers added that the US government must address this new challenge. “If the Bretton Woods system does not deliver strongly around the world, there will be serious challenges and proposed alternatives,” he warned.

Do you agree with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers that growing relations between the Middle East, China and Russia are a concern for the United States? Let us know in the comments section below.

Kevin Helms

A student of Austrian economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the intersection of economics and cryptography.