The US Cannot Become the Only Superpower

MOSCOW – United States of America (The US) was unable to carry out its responsibilities as the only superpower in the world after the Cold War ended. This was stated by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin at the World Youth Festival (WYF) on Wednesday.

WYF took place in Sochi from March 1-7, hosting around 20,000 young people from Russia and abroad for sporting and cultural events, competitions and panel discussions.

While addressing the festival participants, Putin noted that after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, US elites had the opportunity to take advantage of their new “monopoly on world leadership.”

“I believe the United States has failed to handle the burden of responsibility that rests on its shoulders,” Putin said, as quoted from RT, Thursday (7/3/2024).

Putin predicts that as a multipolar world develops, fundamental changes will also occur in Europe.

“Despite the hierarchy that exists in the Western world today, the desire for independence and protecting sovereignty still comes to the fore. This is inevitable for all of Europe,” Putin said.

The expansion of the BRICS alliance is seen by many economists as a sign of the end of US hegemony in the international arena.

“The growing interest in alternatives to the existing international order is significant—and marks a failure of U.S. leadership,” wrote the business and financial news outlet Bloomberg last year.

Putin predicts that the combined GDP of the BRICS countries has exceeded the GDP of the G7, and will continue to grow.

BRICS, which previously consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, grew in size this January with the entry of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

In the past year, the group’s members stopped using dollars and euros in internal settlements, but switched to using national currencies. Western sanctions related to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict have forced Moscow to move away from Western currencies and the SWIFT system and further develop its own MIR payments system.

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