Former Carter Adviser Brzezinski: US Global Supremacy ‘Is Over’


Wednesday, 22 Feb 2012 07:47 AM
By Dan Weil

The United States can no longer reign supreme as the world’s sole superpower, says Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter’s National Security adviser and a prolific foreign affairs scholar.

“The era of global supremacy by a major power . . . is over,” he tells Yahoo.

“The world is now much more diversified. There is now the new East in Asia. There is now a globally, politically awakened population.”

But that doesn’t mean the demise of the United States, as long as we’re willing to make some changes, Brzezinski, says.

“We have to accustomize ourselves to that world. If we want to compete in it, we have to revitalize ourselves.”

When it comes to China, the United States must accept its rising power, he says. “But we can certainly compete more effectively if we do a lot of thing internally to reawaken creativity, confidence, and even the moral significance of America in the world.”

We must employ flexibility and intelligence in our relationship with China, Brzezinski says.

“If we do that, a collision between America and China is avoidable, even if China begins to approximate us in global influence and perhaps eventually surpasses us.”

Brzezinski’s points make eminent sense. But balancing the relationship with China isn’t so easy.

How do we pressure China to adopt fair trade practices and let the yuan appreciate when we are dependent on the nation to finance our debt and provide low-cost goods?


Former Carter Adviser Brzezinski: US Global Supremacy