America's place in a multi-polar world

 

At a global conference a few years ago, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers revealed that Americans would really prefer to be the G1.

Not the G7 grouping of the biggest economies, or even the G3, but the G1 - where America would be the sole decision-maker. It may not be too surprising since the US has been the sole economic superpower for most of the post-war period.


But times are changing.
A big sign of the shift was when the British and other Europeans, as well as allies such as Australia and South Korea, all signed up to the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to be founding members.
Their actions were over the objections of the Americans, who are not only concerned about China leading the AIIB - which is a competitor to the World Bank, a multilateral institution led by the US - but also about not being consulted beforehand by the Brits who have a "special relationship" with America.