Has the time come for the rest of the world to decouple from the
U.S. dollar and the interminable domestic wrangling of American politicians?
For China's state-run Xinhua News Agency,
columnist Liu Chang lays out the case for a 'new world order' free of a 'hypocritical' power that pretends to hold the moral high ground while it
commits every form of misbehavior.
China Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao: At the APEC Summit in Bali, Zhu expressed concern about the U.S. budget impasse, saying that unless Washington acts decisively to avoid a default on its Treasury Bonds, China's economic interests would be badly harmed.
BEIJING:
With U.S. politicians of both political parties shuffling back and forth
between the White House and Capitol Hill unable to strike a viable deal to
bring normality back to their body politic - the one they like to brag about so much,
it may be a good time for a befuddled planet to consider building a
de-Americanized world.
Since
emerging from the bloodshed of World War II as the world's most powerful nation,
the United States has endeavored to build a global empire by imposing a postwar
order, fueling recovery in Europe, and encouraging regime-change in nations it
deemed unfriendly.
With
its unrivaled economic and military might, the United States declared that it
had vital national interests to protect in nearly every corner of the globe,
and habitually meddled in the affairs of other nations and regions far from its
shores.
Meanwhile,
the U.S. government left no stone unturned to depict itself as the nation
claiming the moral high ground, even as it covertly acted to undermine such
claims by torturing prisoners of war, slaying civilians in drone attacks,
and spying on world leaders.
As
part of what is known as the Pax
Americana, there is little sign of the United States helping to defuse
violence and conflict, reduce poverty, help displaced populations, and bring
about real, lasting peace.
Moreover,
instead of honoring its duties as a responsible power, a self-serving
Washington has abused its superpower status and introduced even more chaos into
the world by shifting financial risk overseas, instigating regional tensions
amid territorial disputes, and launching unwarranted wars under the cover of
outright lies.
Thanks
to Wall Street's voracious elites, the world is still crawling out of an
economic disaster. Meanwhile, bombings and killings have become virtually daily
routines in Iraq, years after Washington claimed it had liberated its people
from tyranny.
Most
recently, Washington's latest episode of failing to come up with a viable
bipartisan way to pass a federal budget and lift the debt ceiling has again
put the tremendous dollar assets held by many nations in jeopardy, and
the international community greatly agonized.
Alarming
moments like these, when the destinies of others are in the hands of a
hypocritical nation, must be terminated and replaced with a new world order, under
which all nations, large or small, rich or poor, have their key interests
respected and protected on an equal footing.
To
that end, several cornerstones need to be laid to create a foundation for a
de-Americanized world. For starters, all nations must hew to the basic
principles of the international law, including a respect for sovereignty and
keeping hands off the domestic affairs of others.
Furthermore,
the authority of the United Nations in handling global hotspots must be
recognized. That means that without a U.N. mandate, no one has the right to
wage any form of military action against others.
In
addition, the world's financial system must embrace substantial reform.
Developing
and emerging market economies need more say over major international financial
institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, so they
better reflect the transformations of the global economic and political
landscape.
A
key part of any effective reform could be the introduction of a new global
reserve currency to replace the dominant U.S. dollar, so the international
community is able to permanently avoid the spillover effects of the
intensifying domestic political turmoil in the United States.
Of
course, the purpose of promoting these changes is not to completely toss the
United States aside, which is also impossible. Rather, it is to encourage
Washington to play a more constructive role in addressing global affairs.
And
before all of this, we suggest that politicians within Washington's beltway begin
by ending their pernicious impasse.
