Era Of Western Dominance Coming To End - UK Ex-Prime Minister Blair

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair believes that the era of political and economic dominance of the West is coming to an end, pointing to the actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine and the rise of China as the world's "second superpower".

This was reported by the British TV channel Sky News.

Delivering the annual lecture at the Ditchley Foundation, the former Prime Minister said Western nations needed to increase their defense spending to maintain their military superiority while expanding their "soft power" by building ties with countries that are developing.

He noted that Russia's "brutal and unjustified" invasion of Ukraine showed that they can no longer automatically expect the major world powers to comply with accepted international norms.

"As a result of Putin's actions, we cannot rely on the Chinese leadership to behave in the way we think is rational," the politician said.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that in the near future China will try to take Taiwan by force. But we can't base our policy on the certainty that it won't. And even if we leave Taiwan aside, the reality is that China under Xi's leadership is competing for influence and doing it aggressively," Blair said.

He clarified that the biggest geopolitical change of this century will take place in China, not in Russia, and called for a strategy to counter the country's rise in power.

"We are approaching the end of the political and economic dominance of the West," the ex-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom emphasized. - The world will be at least bipolar and possibly multipolar. For the first time in modern history, the East can be on an equal footing with the West."