I was intrigued by an interview conducted by
the Chinese cable TV CGTN with the former prime minister of Finland, Alexander
Stubb, on April 14. The interview focused on two major issues: the possibility
of both Finland and Sweden joining NATO, and the high cost of the current war
on the economies of Ukraine and Russia.
اضافة اعلان
In response,
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on April 16 that Russia would take the
necessary measures in response to the threat posed by Sweden and Finland
becoming NATO members. Putin believes that such NATO enlargement would pose a
serious additional threat to his country.
While Finland is a
direct neighbor of Russia, to the West, Sweden shares maritime borders with it.
According to
Stubb, Russia’s economic losses as a result of the war on Ukraine and the
consequent boycott by the North American, European and other countries will
cause a serious value change of the Russian economy.
I was also sent a
copy of a speech by economist and political analyst Professor Kishore
Mahbubani, Singaporean of Indian ancestry, whose last book was titled “Has the
West lost it?”.
Westerners were confident, 40 years ago, when China’s GDP was only one-tenth of the US’, that China would never catch up. India was also thought to be lagging way behind. Both will soon become the two leading world economies.
Mahbubani believes
that Western countries have contributed a lot to the enhancement of welfare
through scientific and technological discoveries over the last 250 years, and
that the world now enjoys a much better standard of life than it did two and a
half centuries ago. He also believes that the West had become arrogant and
self-centered.
Westerners were
confident, 40 years ago, when China’s GDP was only one-tenth of the US’, that
China would never catch up. India was also thought to be lagging way behind.
Both will soon become the two leading world economies. Even Southeast Asian
countries (ASEAN) will overtake Europe in GNP purchasing power terms.
The myopia of the
West, according to Mahbubani, led it to boycott China, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela,
with nothing to show for. In contrast, ASEAN refused to boycott Myanmar over
the Rohingya massacres, opting, instead, to embrace Myanmar and provide it with
necessary assistance to help it curtail the root causes of the massacres, which
are poverty and unemployment. The result was better coexistence between Muslims
and Buddhists.
The West, as the
author suggests, must change its supremacy and adopt the three “M” approach.
The three Ms are minimalism, multilateralism, and market value.
Minimalism means
resorting to ways and means to circumvent the possibility of wars like those
that happened in the Middle East and that ended in more misery and caused a
decline in the world’s welfare levels.
The current supply
chain crisis and high inflation would only inflict more starvation,
unemployment and abject poverty on many developing countries.
Multilateralism is
the second “idol” of the Singaporean author. He cites the success of ASEAN as
an example where had there not been multilateral cooperation, all 10 neighbors
would have failed to achieve the levels of growth they are enjoying right now.
Going to the
market value: freedom of trade, exchange and competition ensures a better place
for everyone on this planet.
It is obvious that
the war on Ukraine and against Russia, and the West’s bigotry, which makes it
confident that it will continue to stay on top, are leading to further losses,
while the emerging new world powers in Asia believe that a win-win solution is
the better option for the world.
The writer is an economist, and has held several
ministerial posts, including former deputy prime minister and former chief of
the Royal Court.
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