Transcription
In this eye-opening video, former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yo reveals the rise of a multipolar world and explores how this shift in global power could signal the collapse of the US Empire. Trust me, you won't want to miss what he says. Watch till the end.
Uh, China, in its long history, has always dealt with multipolarity because it's got more borders, has got more neighbors than anybody else, and has always was never so dominant that he had no fear of his neighbors. In fact, the greatest strategic thinkers in China have all the time concentrated on China's strategic relationship, uh, with some of these neighbors who were either from the north or from the west, and more recently from the sea, but never from the south.
The US doesn't like multipolarity and is fighting it. My fear is it will exhaust itself, uh, fighting it because it will fail. The US today has some 800 military bases around the world. They are very expensive. Uh, when I was invited to board a US aircraft carrier in Changi some years ago, there was a Singapore supplier of eggs and asked him how many eggs he was loading on board. He told me two, 2 million eggs. 2 million eggs. I thought he must have got a decimal point wrong. Z one zero too many. Then I calculated that for 100 days at sea, 5,000 sailors, four eggs a day, that's 2 million eggs. So there's a lot of money made to be made by supplying US, um, forces overseas. But who pays? It's a lot of money. Well, maybe some allies will cough up some, but the US taxpayer pays a lot. But all of us are also paying because of the US dollar. I mean, the US can print more money. So in the sense, the US dollar is a tax on all of us to help maintain Pax America in the world.
At some point, when you weaponize the international financial system, an alternative will grow to displace it. Then, at that point, the US dollar will lose its exorbitant privilege. Then the financing of military bases will be a hard choice between guns and butter, or the consequence will be inflation. When this will happen, no one knows, but financial markets must watch it very closely. Uh, so far, whenever there's a crisis, the US dollar goes up in value. When the day comes the dollar is not going up in value during a crisis, then we know a turning point has been reached.
So it may be better for the US to help crystallize a multipolar world because in the multipolar world, it will naturally be primus inter pares, the first among equals. And it's not just a matter of power, it is also the English language, it is also the standards and the conceptual categories which we've all been used to. And in a way, diversity created the US in an earlier period. Europeans who felt oppressed went to a new continent, created a new society with a new liberal idea. But that liberal idea was mostly confined to Western civilization. It's now got to broaden to encompass people who are not Western in history and civilizational origin. I mean, by 2050, by some estimates, one in two babies will be Muslim. One in two babies is Muslim. So whether we like it or not, the world is going to change. And the multipolar world, to me, it's on the cards. It's already been born. It's growing up. And the quicker the US and maybe the collective West grasp this and work to shape it, the better they are to preserve that position and in a positive way, not in a negative way.
I always ask myself, if one day we have to go to outer space, whose operating system will we use? American, Chinese, Indian, French, German? I think it'd be closer to the American system because it's a system which was built for diversity and less reliant on history, but more on law to organize people. But it requires a fresh interpretation of the liberal idea in the US, which will itself take a long time. So in this transition, there'll be a lot of problems for all of us.
George Yo highlights that the world is no longer just about the US and its dominance. Over the years, countries like China, India, and the ASEAN nations have been growing at a faster pace than the Western powers. This trend isn't temporary. It's the new reality. China's economy has been surging for decades, positioning itself as the second largest economy in the world. Meanwhile, India, with its young population and growing tech sector, is becoming a global powerhouse. And don't forget ASEAN, which includes rapidly developing economies like Vietnam and Indonesia. The economic growth of these regions is reshaping the global landscape.
Yo argues that the US needs to recognize this shift and accept that it's no longer the undisputed leader. The world is becoming more multipolar, and the US will need to find its place in this new order. To put it simply, the US is no longer the only dominant player on the field. Other countries are catching up, and if the US wants to stay relevant, it will need to adapt to a world where power is shared among many.
Another point Yo makes is about the massive financial burden of maintaining over 800 military bases around the world. At first glance, this may seem like a display of power, but George Yo argues it's not sustainable. Imagine running a business with branches in nearly every country. That might sound impressive at first, but maintaining all those locations can drain resources quickly. The US military operates globally, spending billions of dollars every year to keep these bases running. And it's not just the US government footing the bill. Yo points out that US citizens are the ones paying for these military operations through taxes. In addition, the rest of the world also pays indirectly thanks to the US dollar's status as the global reserve currency. This gives the US the ability to print money and run military operations abroad without as much concern for the costs.
But this situation isn't sustainable forever. Other countries are increasingly questioning why they should help finance US military presence, especially when it doesn't directly benefit them. The military presence is costly, and as more nations grow economically, they may start to push back.
George Yo's most provocative point is about the future of the US dollar. For decades, the US has enjoyed what's called exorbitant privilege, meaning that the US dollar is the world's primary currency for trade and reserves. But Yo believes this won't last forever. As more countries, particularly in Asia, seek alternatives, the dollar could face a decline in its dominance. China has already been promoting its own currency, the renminbi, as a replacement for the dollar in international trade. Countries like Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are exploring alternatives. And with the rise of digital currencies, the US dollar's hold on the global economy is becoming more tenuous.
Yo suggests that eventually the dollar could collapse under the weight of its own privilege. Without the dollar being the world's primary reserve currency, the US might lose its ability to finance its military and its debt in the same way it does now. This could create significant economic problems for the US, especially as its global influence starts to wane.
George Yo's perspective challenges the traditional view of US dominance in global affairs. As the world moves toward a more multipolar order, the US will need to accept its changing role. The burden of maintaining military bases around the world is unsustainable, and the dollar's dominance is no longer guaranteed. The rise of China, India, and ASEAN countries signals a shift in power, and the US will need to adapt to this new global reality. The question is, will the US embrace this shift and find a way to coexist with other rising powers, or will it resist trying to maintain its superpower status at all costs?
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