The former British Prime Minister said the world is on its way to multipolarity and Western rule is about to end

TASS – Tony Blair, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007, said that the world is on the cusp of global geopolitical shifts and the transition to multipolarity, as the era of Western hegemony is about to come to an end.

Speaking in the annual Ditchley newspaper, he said, “The biggest geopolitical shift of this century will come from China, not Russia. We are nearing the end of Western political and economic hegemony. The world will at least be bipolar and possibly multipolar.” “It is the first time in modern history that the East can be on a par with the West.”

According to Blair, China is “already the world’s second superpower,” while its economic potential and role in the global economy dwarfs Russia. Moreover, he added, “China has already caught up with America in many areas of technology and may surpass it in others.”

In his view, the policies of the Chinese leadership have become more aggressive. The former prime minister said Beijing was not hiding its “contempt” for the West and was moving toward stronger ties with Russia.

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“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying in the short term that China will try to take over Taiwan by force,” Blair said. “But we cannot base our policy on the certainty that this will not happen.”

He believes that Russia and possibly Iran are likely to become allies of China in the near future.

The former British prime minister said Western policy toward China should be based on what he described as “power plus engagement”.

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