Although numerous geopolitical observers assert that Donald Trump has diminished America's standing both at home and abroad, certain specialists contend that neither the President nor the U.S. Ought to be underestimated.
TL;DR
- Kishore Mahbubani believes Donald Trump is a consequential president who dominates the political scene.
- America's economy remains larger than China's, with the U.S. Dollar a powerful tool for sanctions.
- China's rare earth control offers a strategic counterweight to the U.S. Dollar's influence.
- Mahbubani advises against underestimating the United States, citing its enduring dynamism and power.
“(Trump) stands out as a far more consequential president than any of his predecessors,” said Kishore Mahbubani, a renowned Singaporean diplomat and author, who has served as President of the UN Security Council.
“He has moved the agenda very, very clearly, and dominates the political scene in a way that no other recent U.S. President has,” added Mahbubani, while addressing the Coins2Day Innovation Forum in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Mahbubani, whose widely-read books include Can Asians Think and Has China Won?, added that America’s economy is still 1.5 times larger than China’s, and that it has a powerful weapon: the U.S. Dollar.
“In many ways, the Chinese still need to use the U.S. Dollar—they can’t escape it. And when the U.S. Introduces sanctions involving the USD, it can create significant discomfort for China,” the diplomat said.
Mahbubani also stated that China's rapid ascent has been evident, even to Americans. This was highlighted in October when Trump described his meeting with Xi Jinping as a 'G2' encounter, acknowledging the growing influence of their eastern counterpart.
“When the U.S. Imposed tariffs on over 100 countries, only one country in the world could effectively retaliate against them, and that was China,” Mahbubani said, noting that the latter’s control over rare earths gives it a strategic counterweight to the power of the U.S. Dollar.
He added that a significant error the Western mindset continues to make regarding China is viewing the world in simplistic, binary terms, framing it as a contest between white democracies and black autocracy, when in fact, reality is far more complex.
“There’s no question that Western societies are on the right side of Western history in pushing for democracy and liberalization, but there’s also no question that China is on the right side of Chinese history,” Mahbubani said.
He contended that China, being the planet's most ancient enduring civilization, prioritizes the preservation of stability and harmony above all else. He further noted that the West has been tardy in grasping this, opting instead to adhere to a perspective where liberty sparks creativity and suppression stifles it.
“This idea that the Chinese mind cannot be innovative is absolutely crazy, but it shows you that the Western mind has trapped itself in a bubble that doesn’t understand the rest of the world,” Mahbubani said.
Mahbubani anticipates that America's push to counter China will persist for another decade or two, with the global community observing.
“The United States has been number one for 130 years, and no great power gives up its number one position (easily),” he said.
China, too, should stay on its toes, as “there’s something powerful and dynamic in the American economic and social system that explains its high performance”, the diplomat said.
“So whenever I meet my Chinese friends, I always tell them to never, never underestimate the United States of America.”