US attempts to divide world dangerous, misguided, says renowned US economist

LONDON -- Seeking to keep its position as the world's hegemonic power, the United States is trying to divide the world, a strategy that is very dangerous and misguided, a renowned economist told Xinhua.

The US strategic doctrine is that no country should challenge US dominance, said Professor Jeffrey Sachs from Columbia University in New York.

"Of course, other countries, including China, do not want a US-dominated world," Sachs said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua recently.

"This doesn't mean other countries want to dominate the world instead, only that they resent US arrogance in deciding global policies, and in launching US-led wars, such as in Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere, while telling other countries that they must abide by US demands," he added.

In the process of trying to protect its hegemony, Sachs said, the United States is expanding NATO, both eastward in Europe, and now even in Asia, by inviting Japan, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to cooperate closely with NATO.

"This is a typical American strategy to try to divide the world. It is very, very dangerous and misguided. It is also sad that (some) countries go along," the economist said.

Sachs has warned of the consequences of the US strategy on multiple occasions. At a conference hosted by the Spanish think tank the GATE Center in mid-June, he said "the United States has a mindset that it is still the world leader, which is rather preposterous given global realities, but it leads to tremendous mistakes, a failure of diplomacy, a failure to negotiate, a very harsh line against China, which is completely contrary to the actual needs of the planet, because we need cooperation everywhere."

In the interview with Xinhua, he also pointed out that the United States failed to acknowledge that its arrogance and provocative NATO policies raised tensions and militarization in Ukraine, and now it is using the conflict in Ukraine as an excuse to expand NATO even further, which is "a terrible mistake and potential disaster."

Since early 2010s, the United States has been escalating its containment efforts against China, which include unilateral trade measures, technology, investment and financial barriers, and new military alliances such as AUKUS, Sachs said.

"These are unilateral and provocative actions that are dangerously raising tensions between the United States and China. The goal of the United States is to weaken China and to mobilize an alliance against China. This is a huge mistake and very dangerous," he added.

"We need a world of peace, in which war is not used as state policy, and a world in which all countries abide by the UN Charter," he said.