Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the Ukraine war showed that the hegemony of the West is witnessing its end, in light of the rise of China to be a great power in partnership with Russia, in the clearest changing points in the global scene in centuries.
Blair made it clear that the world is in a stage of transformation in history that can be compared to the end of World War II or the collapse of the Soviet Union, but this time, clearly, the West is not in the best position.
According to the transcript of a speech he delivered at a forum in support of the US-Europe alliance in Ditchley Park, west London, in a lecture titled "After Ukraine, What Current Lessons for Western Leadership?"
"We are witnessing the end of Western political and economic hegemony," Blair said.
"The world will become at least bipolar or multipolar...the biggest geopolitical change in this century will come from China, not Russia," he said.
He noted that the Ukraine war made it clear that the West could not rely on China "to act in a way that we consider rational."
"China's place as a great power is natural and justified. It is not the Soviet Union," Blair said, but said the West should not allow China to militarily excel.
"We have to increase defense spending and maintain military superiority," he added, noting that the United States and its allies "must have a sufficient (militarily) predominance to deal with any possibility or type of conflict in all regions."
Blair served as Britain's prime minister from 1997 to 2007.