00:00Let's get some more analysis now with Jeffrey Sachs, a public policy analyst and former senior advisor to the United
00:07Nations.
00:08Professor Sachs, really good to have you back. Thank you very much indeed, sir, for joining us again.
00:12My pleasure.
00:13Well, Wang Yi's saying, of course, that the international stage in the 21st century should no longer see the replay
00:19of what he called old scripts from the 19th century.
00:23I mean, with the Iran conflict widening every day, there are seriously concerning echoes, are there not, from the past
00:31reverberating today?
00:34What the foreign minister put forward is very mature and very sincere and very important.
00:42But it is not the United States situation.
00:46The U.S. is militaristic, imperialistic and fighting wars of choice across the Americas and the Middle East.
01:00And it is extremely dangerous what is happening.
01:04The U.S. is not listening to talk about cooperation.
01:08It is looking for conquest and it is looking for conquest in Iran, which would be a devastating reality if
01:21that came about,
01:22because it would mean crushing a civilization that is ancient, that is proud and that has 100 million people in
01:34it.
01:34And that is a crucial point geographically in the world, a pivot in the world.
01:41So the foreign minister's remarks are very mature.
01:46They would lead to world peace.
01:48But the United States is acting in a blatantly imperialistic and expansionist way.
01:55And you say the United States is not listening.
01:58But Wang Yi said that China and the U.S. cannot change each other, but they can change the way
02:04that they interact.
02:05I mean, how could that be possible now?
02:07How do they do that?
02:11I think the grim reality for China is the United States is out to conquer much of the world.
02:23The U.S. is aiming to overthrow the government of Cuba.
02:29The U.S. is militarizing the Americas.
02:33The U.S. is out for hegemonic control of the Middle East.
02:37This is a very grim reality.
02:40We've not seen anything so blatant in imperialism since World War II.
02:49What the United States is doing is even beyond its own rather militaristic standards.
02:56Donald Trump is unhinged and the American system is unhinged right now.
03:02It demands unconditional surrender of Iran.
03:06It says that Donald Trump will choose the next leader.
03:10These are invitations to World War III, I'm sorry to say.
03:17Incredibly disturbing.
03:19And we did hear from Beijing about the importance of international law and multilateralism.
03:25To your point, with the Middle East in flames, surely the very concept of international law is in tatters.
03:31Can it be repaired?
03:34Almost all countries in the world believe in international law.
03:39The United States and Israel do not.
03:42Again, grim reality.
03:44The U.S. has said openly that it is completely disdainful of the U.N.,
03:52that the U.N. is worthless, that it is useless, that international law is a nicety.
04:02This is the language of pure imperialism.
04:08This is not the language of international cooperation.
04:11It is not the language that China and most of the world subscribe to.
04:19So when Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks, he resonates with almost all of the world.
04:26But the United States absolutely is not listening right now.
04:31And while China is, of course, taking the path of peace, the United States is choosing the path of war.
04:39And it is aiming to destroy the U.N., I'm sorry to say, in countless ways.
04:44It has left dozens of U.N. organizations and treaties.
04:49It doesn't pay its bills.
04:50It ignores completely international law.
04:54It disdains the U.N. Security Council.
04:58It votes against the rest of the world in the U.N. General Assembly.
05:02This is the reality of the United States today.
05:06And Donald Trump revels in it, revels in what he asserts is his unilateral power to change the world.
05:17A sobering message, Professor Sachs.
05:19Thank you very much indeed for your insights, as ever.
05:22We're very grateful.
05:23Geoffrey Sachs, a public policy analyst, former senior advisor to the United Nations.
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