An aerial drone photo shows U.S. carmaker Tesla’s Megafactory in Shanghai, east China, Feb. 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)
Below is from an interview with Xinhua regarding Xi-Trump May 14-15 summit in Beijing.
Source: Xinhua, Editor: huaxia, 2026-05-28
Interview: China, U.S. have shared interests for cooperation, says U.S. economist
U.S. economist says stronger trade, infrastructure and manufacturing ties would benefit both countries and support global stability.Xinhua reports on interview with Freeman
by Xinhua writer Liu Yanan
NEW YORK, May 28 (Xinhua) — China and the United States can have economic cooperation and collaboration on multiple fronts, and there is no objective reason for antagonisms to exist between the two countries, a U.S. economist has said.
As the world’s two largest economies, both nations can benefit from increased trade and the exchange of ideas, said Lawrence Freeman, a U.S.-based physical economist, in a recent interview with Xinhua.
“If the United States partners with China, which there is no reason not to, the rest of the world will react positively,” Freeman told Xinhua.
He noted that China’s Belt and Road Initiative has been a vital source to African and other nations in providing vital infrastructure.
The world needs physical, not monetary, economic growth to end poverty and hunger, which are the primary causes of instability, the economist said.
Stability and peace can be achieved by improving the living conditions of all nations and all people, he added.
Freeman also spoke highly of China’s “win-win” approach to foreign policy and criticized the harmful “zero-sum game” approach.
“Each nation benefits from the growth and development of other nations. The more nations that are industrialized, the more their economies will require capital goods produced in other nations,” he said.
China’s prowess in manufacturing could also serve cooperation between the two nations, Freeman said.
“China has become a model of how to achieve manufacturing and industrial growth, which should be emulated by the United States instead of being maligned,” he added.■
Excerpts from Freeman’s response:
China’s “win-win” approach to foreign policy is far superior to the diseased “zero-sum game” approach. The world is not fixed; it is not governed by survival of the strongest. Our planet, our universe, is constantly growing and expanding, propelled by human creativity. Each nation benefits from the growth and development of other nations. The more nations that are industrialized the more their economies will require capital goods produced in other nations. Stability and peace can be achieved by improving the living conditions of all nations and all people. nations should understand and adopt what was stipulated at the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia: the benefit to the other is a benefit to thyself.
China is the leading manufacturing nation in the world. Only the combined manufacturing output of the U.S. and Europe is more than China. This speaks volumes about China’s approach to building up their economy over the last forty-five years. Massive investments by China, in categories of hard infrastructure; energy and rail transportation in particular, have been indispensable to its growth.
The U.S. has lost almost five million manufacturing jobs in this century, over 100,000 since President Trump took office in January 2025. Foolish leaders of the U.S. did this to America, not China. The U.S. destroyed its own economy by shrinking its manufacturing sector and failing to invest in infrastructure. A robust manufacturing sector is essential for the prosperity of a nation. China has become a model of how to achieve manufacturing and industrial growth, which should be emulated by the U.S. instead of being maligned. It is also a model for the rest of the world in how to achieve manufacturing superiority in approximately two generations.
People who talk about “de-coupling” the U.S. from China are dangerous fools, who understand nothing about physical economics. Despite the bravado of some, the U.S. would never survive this severing, but China would. China dominates supply chains of refined critical and rare earth minerals. China understood the need to develop these resources decades before the U.S. It cannot be reversed by the U.S. simply ordering China or other nations to acquiesce, or by U.S. bullying other nations by threatening them with abusive tariffs.
China has succeeded because it understood that to develop its economy and provide for its people, it needed: a strong manufacturing sector; extensive infrastructure; a commitment to scientific research, particularly space exploration; and discovering new valuable natural resources. This “full-set economy” approach is not unique and can be replicated by other nations. The U.S. once understood this and can again.
Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, consultant on Africa, and an analyst of global strategic relations. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, also publishes on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World, and on X@lkfreemansafrica
On May 15, China’s People’s Daily published edited excerpts from an interview with Lawrence Freeman, prior to the May 14-15 summit, between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump. Read: People’s Daily Interview with Freeman
Below is the English translation.
Strengthening dialogue and cooperation between the US and China will better enable them to jointly address global challenges (International Forum) Cooperation between the United States and China will inject strong momentum into global stability, development, and prosperity, making the world a better place.
On May 14, Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with US President Donald Trump at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, who was on a state visit to China. The meeting between the two heads of state is crucial for both countries and the world. As the world’s two largest economies, the decisions made by the US and China, and their future policy directions, will have a significant impact on the world. This meeting set the tone and direction for the development of US-China relations and is a key opportunity to promote the sound development of US-China relations, making it of great significance. Maintaining dialogue and communication between the United States and China helps enhance mutual trust, manage differences, expand consensus, and promote cooperation.
As important trading partners, the US and China each possess strong complementary advantages in areas such as natural resources, markets, capital, and technology, offering vast opportunities for cooperation. Those advocating for “decoupling and supply chain disruptions” clearly lack rational consideration. Against the backdrop of rising uncertainty in the current international environment, maintaining stable, healthy, and sustainable development of US-China economic and trade relations is conducive to maintaining the stability of global industrial and supply chains, boosting market confidence, and is in the common interest of both peoples. It will also inject more stability and certainty into the world economy.
There are no winners in tariff wars and trade wars. The US should abandon zero-sum thinking, fully recognize the enormous potential of US-China cooperation, establish a win-win cooperation concept, and contribute to improving people’s livelihoods and promoting common development worldwide. In fact, the American people hold a friendly yearning for China and eagerly anticipate visiting and exchanging ideas with it. Two years ago, I visited Beijing and stayed for nine days, personally experiencing the sincerity, enthusiasm, and friendliness of the Chinese people, and also feeling their sincere expectation for friendly exchanges between the American and Chinese people. Recently, a friend of mine traveled to China and had a very pleasant experience, deeply appreciating the warm hospitality of the Chinese people. Because of this wonderful experience in China, my family and I plan to travel there again this summer.
This meeting between the US and Chinese heads of state will inject vitality into promoting friendly exchanges between the two peoples, enhance the American people’s understanding of China, and encourage them to truly get closer to this fascinating country and witness firsthand the vibrant picture of ancient civilization and modern development complementing each other. Looking at the international situation and the development of bilateral relations, there is no reason for the US and China to move towards confrontation. Cooperation between the two countries benefits both, while confrontation harms both. The two countries can absolutely achieve mutual success and common prosperity. Working together, the US and China will inject strong momentum into global stability, development, and prosperity, making the world a better place. We look forward to both countries jointly maintaining a stable, healthy, and sustainable bilateral relationship, jointly addressing global challenges, jointly committing to reducing hunger and poverty, helping underdeveloped countries achieve industrialization, promoting sustainable global economic growth, and safeguarding world peace and prosperity.
On Sunday, May 17, People’s Daily published additional remarks from Lawrence Freeman. Under the title:
Promoting the stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China-US relations
”The meeting between the US and Chinese leaders is of great significance to both countries and the world. The mutual respect and friendly attitude shown by the two leaders have laid a solid foundation for strengthening cooperation in areas such as trade, science and technology, culture, and maintaining international and regional stability. We look forward to this meeting opening a new chapter in US-China relations and promoting the long-term stable development of bilateral relations,” said Lawrence Freeman, an international affairs expert in the United States.
Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, consultant on Africa, and an analyst of global strategic relations. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, also publishes on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World, and on X@lkfreemansafrica
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is on an official visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 14, 2026. (China Daily)
May 11, 2026
President Xi Jinping is widely reported to have told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez that the international order is crumbling into disarray, during their meeting last month in Beijing. Both leaders have condemned President Trump’s unprovoked war against the nation of Iran and rejected the desperate pleas by President Trump for support of his reckless military actions. Their discussion on April 14, at the Great Hall of the People, acknowledged the conditions of the world are fraught with danger, and pledged increased cooperation between the two nations. Keep in mind that President Trump was to meet President Xi for a summit on March 31, before he postponed it due to his self-imposed quagmire in Iran. That summit has been rescheduled for May 14-15, which appears will occur.
President Xi’s description of the crumbling and disarray of the Western orchestrated rules-based international order goes beyond previous statements by the Chinese President, regarding the failure of Western policies. The Chinese translation of this phrase reveals that President Xi’s remarks were more perceptive and discerning than one might think. The literal translation is an idiom: the rites have crumbled and the music is ruined, which conveys moral decay.
This astute observation is absolutely correct. The decadence of the West, with its moral, cultural, and economic rot is there for all to witness, if they desire. One has to look no further than the contorted responses by western leaders for their involvement with the morally depraved Jeffrey Epstein. Or what passes for political (un)thinking in the United States. It is absolutely clear to any astute and honest thinker that survival of humanity requires an escape from the rules-based morally decayed order to a more advanced set of principles (not rules) guiding relations among nations.
China will undoubtedly be a leading nation in creating a new paradigm. U.S. officials and poorly informed Americans have little to no understanding of China’s history, culture, or the thinking propelling their unparalleled economic growth over the last forty-five years. The U.S. government and its citizens have been conditioned to think of “politics” in terms of what provides immediate gratification in the seconds, hours, or days ahead. By contrast, the Chinese think of what policies today, will result in benefits to society, decades, and centuries into the future. For example, President Trump is obsessed in securing supply chains for critical and rare earth minerals, with China controlling the refinement of 90% of these resources. Should China be accused of nefariously controlling these precious resources needed for computer chips, AI, and military munitions, because they understood their importance a generation before the West? Should we discriminate against China because they are smarter than us?
Society’s culture should emphasize nurturing a child’s creative potential to discover the laws of the universe. (Courtesy of communityplaythings.com)
The clearest evidence for the indictment of the crumbling and disarray of the Western orchestrated rules-based order is their lack of vision for the future of humanity. Their gross failure to recognize that human creativity, the uniquely human creative imagination, is the single most powerful resource in our universe. Not money, not power, not military might, not the glitz and glitter of opulent wealth: but the human mind housed inside the human body. A nation should not be governed on a “business model.” It should be led by a statesman, who is guided by a vision for the advancement of humankind.
Thus, the physical development of human beings and the nurturing of their creative powers should become the principle of a new paradigm replacing the morally and culturally doomed rules-based order.
The U.S. Economy Is Bankrupt
The U.S. federal debt has surpassed 100% of GDP, marking a significant fiscal milestone. As of March 31, the debt reached $31.265 trillion, slightly exceeding the GDP of $31.216 trillion. It is now official, the U.S. owes more in federal debt than our GDP, which itself is terribly flawed, because it does not accurately measure the real physical wealth of an economy. We should also acknowledge that total U.S. federal and private debt exceeds $100 trillion, once we include consumer credit debt, mortgage debt, school debt, state debt, and corporate debt. And all of this debt exists within a financial system loaded with two quadrillion dollars of speculative derivatives.
The U.S. economy exists on increasing amounts of debt that will never, ever be repaid. Without this almost tenfold increase of debt during the last quarter of a century, the U.S. economy would not exist in its present state. It would not be able to pursue its goal of dictating policy to the rest of the world as the super hegemon. The U.S. economy exists on a mountains of debt at the expense of an increasing number of Americans struggling to survive.
While all categories of U.S. debt have been growing exponentially, the goods producing sector, i.e., productive component of the U.S. economy, has been shrinking since the end of World War II. Simultaneously, employment has increased in the service sector, which employs five times as many workers. This trajectory, which has existed for generations is destroying the U.S. economy and is one of the primary causes of economic suffering by the vast majority of Americans. Service sector jobs do not produce wealth, they consume wealth
Manufacturing jobs are the most essential category of employment for every economy. The manufacturing sector, which produces the physical wealth of the economy, is the pillar that sustains real economic growth and provides for the material standard of living of citizens. Not only has the U.S. employment in the manufacturing sector collapsed precipitously in this century, from 17.32 million in 2,000 to 12.69 million today, but in the last 16 months, the U.S. has lost upwards of an additional 100,000 manufacturing jobs.
For 100 years, the US led the world in manufacturing. Then, in 2010, China surpassed the U.S. And the lead has kept increasing.
The most resounding indictment confirming the crumbling and disarray of the rules-based order is the failure of the U.S. to continue the cultural and economically uplifting determination to explore space, led by President John Kennedy. While I am happy to see the success of the Artemis 2 mission in April 2026, the last moon landing mission was Apollo 17 in 1972. That was over a half-century ago, and astronauts may not land again on the moon for several more years. During this same period, U.S. culture has suffered greatly, absent a true leader over the last fifty-four years, who would lift the minds of the population upwards towards the stars.
The proposed White House budget for NASA in 2026 represents a 24% cut. This would be the lowest amount of money for NASA since 1961, when President launched his “Man on the Moon” program.
Humankind was created to colonize space, and in the process master the laws of the universe. A robust space program emphasizes the importance of nurturing human creativity, by focusing the minds of our citizens on the discovery of new physical principles, which govern the universe. Our young adults and children have been denied the excitement of watching human beings land on an object in space, 250,000 miles from earth.
The collapse of our space program from over 4% of the U.S. budget to approximately .5%, is criminal, and beyond economic stupidity. It demonstrates the utter lack of any understanding of physical economics. Investments in space explorations upgrade scientific research, and lead to new technologies and materials that propel an economy forward. It is estimated that there was a fourteen cent returned to the economy for every one cent spent on Kennedy’s space program, producing a giant leap in productivity.
President John F Kennedy visits Cape Canaveral, Fla. on Nov. 16, 1963. (Courtesy of stateline.org)
The source of wealth is the creative human mind. Over thousands of years, humans have contributed to the development of our planet through our creative-noetic intervention into the universe. All so-called natural resources are made useful by human discoveries and deployed to benefit the propagation of the human race. There is no independent source of wealth. New technologies, discoveries, the by-products of space exploration, are the drivers of a successful economy.
Continuous scientific discovery is responsible for producing robust economic growth, unlike stock trading or monetary gains from speculative financial bubbles. By its practice over recent decades, the U.S. and the rules-based order, have condemned themselves to crumbling and disarray, as President Xi has stated.
Read below my earlier posts related to this topic:
Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, consultant on Africa, and an analyst of global strategic relations. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, also publishes on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World, and on X@lkfreemansafrica
Please watch our one hour dialogue offering unique analysis and solutions for these tumultuousand dangeroustimes
April 17, 2026
On April 12th, 2026, the 81st anniversary of the death of President Franklin Roosevelt, we discussed in the dialogue above, the current perilous state of world affairs. Presently, the Western political-financial elite, which sometimes goes by the name of the rules-based international order, is in disarray, collapsing. It is displaying a complete incompetence in dealing with the multiple crises facing civilization.
We should not insult the concept of genuine strategy by using it to describe President Trump’s conduct in his preemptive, unilateral regime change war against Iran that is entering its eighth week. True political strategy comes from a vision of the future, an idea in one’s mind, of how to improve conditions in the world. President Trump’s decisions are made on a day-to-day, sometimes hour to hour, in a haphazard manner, with no uplifting vision for the future of humankind. His lack of strategic thinking is not only endangering the world with the potential for new and expanded wars, it is also causing harm to the citizens of the United States,
Before the United States even entered World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt had developed in his mind a Grand Design for the world following the defeat of the Third Reich. A critical element of his strategy was to provide economic assistance to the less developed nations, to assist them in raising their standard of living. This was to be accomplished through long-term development credits with the creation of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development(IBRD), known as the World Bank today. President Roosevelt understood correctly that unless conditions of life improved for all people of every nation, we would never achieve lasting peace and security. That is why he made the IBRD the essential feature of his Brenton WoodsConference of July 1944. However, President Roosevelt’s policies, and his vision for the post-war world died with him on April 12th, 1945, even before Brenton Woods agreement was officially enacted. For eighty years, with some notable exceptions, the world has been dominated by the rules based-order with its diseased zero-sum mentality.
Today we have a collapse of the global system, which has ruled the world since the end of World War II. We desperately need a new paradigm to govern relations between nations. A paradigm based on development, which is in the common interest of all nations, as President Xi Jinping has emphasized, all nations have a shared common future. Therefore, it is incumbent on the so called advanced sector nations to align themselves with the needs of the majority of the world that is designated as the Global South. These nations of the Global South represent the majority of the world’s population, occupy the majority of the globe’s land mass, and are endowed with the largest concentration of natural resources and critical and rare earth minerals.
It should be obvious to every leader, that it is in a country’s national self-interest to eradicate poverty in every nation, as President Roosevelt well understood.
Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, consultant on Africa, and an analyst of global strategic relations. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, also publishes on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World, and on X@lkfreemansafrica
Watch my hour long discussion analyzing recent developments in the war against Iran, MAGA, and China.
April 4, 2026
As we are now entering the sixth week of President Trump’s unilateral, preemptive, regime change war, the ruling powers of the West are arguably facing their most severe crisis since World War II. While this brings with it inherent dangers, it also provides the world with an opportunity to free itself from the rules based order, which has dominated the world for more than four generations.
President Trump has now adopted the neoconservative policy of using America’s military might to unjustifiably enforce its rules of behavior on the rest of the world. For over a decade, President Trump had campaigned vigorously against this neocon policy of military intervention against other nations. This was one of the key features of his so-called MAGA movement. As a result of his reversal, we are seeing splits inside the MAGA movement, and now even in the Republican Party, which has otherwise followed his every command.
There is no question that curtailing China’s growing influence in the world, is a key factor in President Trump’s conduct in the Western Hemisphere, in Africa and in the Middle East. In this regard, President Trump is following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Presidents Obama, and Biden, whom he despises, in rejecting China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The United States, the strongest military and economic power, is suffering greatly. When President Trump spoke to the American people on Tuesday night, March 31st, he grotesquely threatened “to bomb Iran back to the stone ages.” This is utterly un-American!
The United States, going back to the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, has had a policy of working with other nations, including China, and those in the developing sector, to improve the living conditions of all nations. President Roosevelt’s intention in creating the International Reconstruction and Development Bank in July 1944, was to provide long-term, low-cost credit to help poorer nations industrialize.
Therefore, with this history as part of the United States, we must work to bring about a new leadership in America, whose policies will be coherent with those of the Global South, the majority of the world’s population. China is not our enemy. China is our potential ally in securing a shared common future for mankind, which will be based on peace, security, and prosperity. This paradigm for development has to become the vision of the United States, replacing the diseased “zero-sum” mentality that always leads to war.
Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, consultant on Africa, and an analyst of global strategic relations. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, also publishes on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World, and on X@lkfreemansafrica
We are now in the fourth week of President Donald Trump’s regime-change war against Iran. There is no country in the world that is benefiting from this preemptive assault on the nation-state of Iran, which includes the potential for an expanding war. It is not in the interest of United States, it is not in the interest of the nations of the Middle East and Gulf, and it is certainly not in the interest of African nations.
No people, no nation, benefit from this neocon policy of military intervention to change and shape weaker governments around the world. In fact, this unnecessary war highlights the failings of the world economy and exposes the weaknesses of the economies of African nations. African nations are now paying more for everything. As I highlighted in the discussion above, the priority, the primary mission for the nations of Africa is: to become industrialized nations. This requires massive investments in infrastructure, in particular the generation of electricity and high-speed rail connectivity. The nations of Africa will always be vulnerable and will always suffer from any disruption in the world economy because their own economies have not been sufficiently developed.
The current Western based rules-based international order, which has dominated the world for four score years with its diseased ideology of zero-sum game winners and losers is collapsing. The focus of the Global South, which Africa is a large component of, should be to create a new political-economic system whose purpose is economic development. This requires, that during this time of extreme crisis, nations should focus on forming alliances with agreement on the critical task of developing their economies. This will require industrialization, massive investments in new infrastructure, and the nurturing of a healthy manufacturing sector that can produce the products needed to raise the standard of living of their people.
Peace through development, which I am advocating, is a more effective and advanced policy than President Trump’s so called peace through strength.
Watch and listen to my unique analysis for Africa in the video above.
Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, consultant on Africa, and an analyst of global strategic relations. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, also publishes on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World, and on X@lkfreemansafrica
Three weeks into Trump’s regime change war. Is the world really safer?
March 17, 2026
What have we witnessed in the preemptive war against Iran being waged by Israel and the United States? That powerful armies can destroy weaker nations with overwhelming military force. However, it is much harder to recreate a new viable nation that is capable of providing for its people. Look closely at the last two colossal failures of regime change wars in this century; Iraq, and Libya. Both are and have been failed states for decades. President Trump’s war on Iran has entered its third week. Despite the macho boasting of President Trump and his followers, what has really changed for the better? Yes, Iran’s infrastructure and military capability is being dismantled. Has the regime changed? Is the nation any better off? Is the world any safer?
U.S. military-intelligence reports that the regime in Iran maintains control of the country and is more emboldened to resist U.S. and Israeli bombings of their nation. Does President Trump wish the alternative? That the nation of Iran disintegrates, and becomes another failed state, a balkanized territory of warring religions, ethnicities, and non-Iranian nationalities? Are the U.S. and the world really better off with a destabilization of the Middle East and the Gulf?
Read below, President Franklin Roosevelt’s superior approach to nation building.
How FDR Planned to Outflank the British in Iran and Afghanistan
By Edward Spannaus, March 13, 2026
Surprising as it may seem today, at the end of the Second World War, both Afghanistan and Iran looked to the United States as their hope for economic development, and for protection from the imperialist designs of Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Both Afghanistan and Iran had long been pawns in the “Great Game” between Britain and Russia, and both saw in the principles of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Atlantic Charter, the possibility of fulfilling their aspirations for freedom from foreign domination and exploitation.
The transformation of the image of the United States, from the protector of exploited nations, to the “Great Satan” and sworn enemy of pan-Islamic fanatics, is a case study in British methods of manipulation and control.
The favorable image of the United States held in the eyes of the leaders of both Iran and Afghanistan was largely due to the deployment of President Roosevelt’s personal representative, Gen. Patrick J. Hurley, to that region in 1943-44. When Hurley arrived in Iran in 1943, he found a country occupied jointly by the British and the Soviets, a country which feared it would be permanently partitioned by the two occupying powers after the war. Hurley proposed that Iran protect its future by joining the Allies and declaring war on Germany and the Axis powers—a proposal which was violently opposed by the British and Russian allies!
At FDR’s instruction, and over efforts by the Anglophilic U.S. State Department to sabotage his efforts, Hurley drafted the “Declaration Regarding Iran” during the Teheran Conference in late 1943. The declaration guaranteed the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Iran, and promised assistance in dealing with the postwar economic situation. Over Averell Harriman’s objections, Roosevelt managed to get the document signed by Stalin and Churchill.
Roosevelt’s vision was to make Iran a “pilot project,” which would show the world the benefits of applying American “twentieth-century” methods to the task of global development. He assigned Hurley to develop a plan for the postwar economic development of Iran, which involved freeing Iran from internal and foreign exploitation, so that it could use its considerable natural resources for its own benefit. FDR also asked Hurley to compile a list of American industrialists and experts who could be trusted to carry out the project. Hurley’s report to Roosevelt included the following provisions:
“Inauguration in Iran of the American pattern of self-government and free enterprise will be an assurance that [the] proceeds from development of Iranian resources will be directed substantially to the building of schools, hospitals, sanitary systems, irrigation systems, and improvement of all facilities contributing to the health, happiness and general welfare of the Iranian people.
“This plan of nation building may be improved through our experience in Iran and may become the criterion for the relations of the United States toward all nations which are now suffering from the evils of greedy minorities, monopolies, aggression, and imperialism.”
President Roosevelt was enthusiastic about the Iran Plan, and forwarded it to the State Department, commenting: “I was rather thrilled by the idea of using Iran as an example of what we could do by an unselfish American policy.”
General Patrick Hurley (center) was a trusted emissary for FDR during World War II, travelling to the Soviet Union, Teheran, and Afghanistan. In 1944, President Roosevelt appointed him Ambassador to China. Here he is meeting with Mao Tze Tung. (Photo: Wikipedia)
Intervention in Afghanistan
Afghanistan was Hurley’s next stop. He flew to Peshawar in Pakistan, only 150 miles from the capital of Afghanistan. As Hurley’s biographer Don Lohbeck tells the story:
“In Peshawar, a series of British-inspired obstacles arose to hinder completion of the flight to Kabul. First the plane in which he was to fly over the mountains to the Afghan capital was declared to be of a type that could not possibly land on the Kabul air strip; second, the officials of the British airfield ‘lost’ the key to the gasoline pump and could not furnish gas for the flight; third, local weather reports from Kabul were withheld from the Americans so that when on January 4, they finally took off—they had to turn back when within only twenty miles of the Afghan city, because weather conditions were so bad they could not land. Trying again the next day, the Americans had to turn back because of engine trouble that developed while in flight.
“Finally, in disgust, General Hurley and his party left Peshawar by car, driving through the Khyber Pass.”
Hurley’s trip was a marked success. The U.S. military attaché wrote that Afghanistan, which had been left out of the Teheran Conference, was eager for some notice from the United States, and that the Afghan leaders now looked to Washington as the arbiter of their relations with Britain and Russia.
Hurley himself reported to Roosevelt that “since leaving Afghanistan I have confirmed the impression that neither Russia nor Britain has the confidence of the Afghanistan Government…. The fact that the United States Government has no imperialistic designs may be regarded as the chief reason why it is trusted by Afghanistan and all nations of the Middle East. The king of Afghanistan is also familiar with the principles expressed by you. He expressed himself as in complete accord and anxious to follow your leadership. The king was delighted by the Iran Declaration. He said it gave all nations of the Middle East and Central Asia confidence in their own future. Throughout the Middle East you are credited with having obtained the Iran Declaration from Britain and Russia.”
The FDR-Hurley plan for Iran was violently attacked by the State Department, whose “expert” on Iran, Eugene Rostow, dismissed it as “hysterical messianic global-baloney.” Hurley angrily denounced the opponents of the plan as “stuffed-shirt diplomats in the State Department who were kow-towing to the British.”
But with Roosevelt’s death in 1945, and the accession of Harry Truman to the White House, the British agents-of-influence in the State Department had their way, and Roosevelt’s postwar plans for the Middle East and Central Asia were scuttled.
American aid for Afghanistan, which was looking to the United States for investment and assistance, never materialized. The United States did manage to maintain more of a role in Iran, and in the early 1950s even assisted Iran’s efforts to wrest control of its oil from Britain. Contrary to historical myth, the United States supported the Mossadeq government’s nationalization of Iran’s oil resources. But with the advent of the Eisenhower administration, U.S. policy in Iran was quickly aligned with that of Britain, and U.S. agents played a secondary, supporting role in the British-run coup against Mossadeq. It was only later that the CIA took credit for overthrowing Mossadeq—a stupid and false claim, which contributed greatly to British efforts to transform the United States into the “enemy image” in the Middle East.
*First published in Executive Intelligence Review, Oct. 13, 1995.
Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, consultant on Africa, and an analyst of global strategic relations. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, also publishes on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World, and on X@lkfreemansafrica
As the world is submerged in the second week of President Trump’s unprovoked military onslaught against the nation of Iran, questions about “who the president really is,” have arisen. Has he morphed into a neo-conservative, or was MAGA a fraud, just a vehicle for President Trump to get elected?
President Trump over the course of two elections condemned preemptive military intervention, regime change, endless wars, and nation building. America First opposed these neo-conservative (neocon) policies and was supposed to concentrate on building up America and improving the lives of its citizens. President Trump is a failure.
President Donald Trump, after a year of obsessively but unsuccessfully attempting to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has turned to war and regime change throughout the world. There can be no question that President Trump is violating the U.S. Constitution and is dangerously involving the United States in a new Middle East war. There was no imminent danger to the U.S. from the nation of Iran that necessitated the bombing attack beginning on February 28, 2026. Those early morning preemptive missile strikes bring to mind an eerie remembrance of March 20, 2003, when President George W Bush launched his neocon inspired invasion of Iraq in pursuit of regime change. President Bush and his circle of advisors arrogantly believed they would remake Iraq in their Western image.
Regime Change VS Iran
Iran does not possess the level of enriched uranium necessary to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran did not have a missile delivery system capable of reaching U.S. There was no imminent danger. Despite various efforts to spin or massage the message, President Trump himself publicly admitted that he is pursuing regime change against the government of Iran. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and others have now tried to provide a fig leaf for the president’s war policy. Rubio claimed on Monday March 2, that Israel was planning to attack Iran and therefore in anticipation of Iran responding with attacks on the U.S. homeland, the U.S. was in imminent danger, necessitating preemptive action against Iran. This convoluted argument whether true or not, was rebuked the next day when President Trump stated that it was he, who was forcing Israel’s hand. Days later, President Trump boldly declared that he had to take out Iran’s clerical leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, before “he got me.” A few days later President Trump demanded to be involved in choosing the next leader of Iran. Regime change for any reason is still regime change.
In the short term, Americans are the big losers from President Trump’s war of choice. Oil companies will increase their revenues and make big profits as oil prices skyrocket. This will add more hardship to the American people, the majority of whom are already economically struggling. Defense production plants and arms manufacturers will expand from infusions of new government money, taxpayer debt. However, weapons and munitions do not increase the wealth of society, do not improve American’s standard of living.
Iran: A Strategic Nation
Iran has the right to process uranium for peaceful purposes. All nations, Iran included, have the responsibility to obtain the technology of nuclear energy to better provide for the welfare of their citizens. There has been no public evidence presented that Iran has other intentions. Descriptions of Iran’s nuclear energy program by western governments, are saturated with their geopolitical prejudices, with little intention to find a mutual pathway for development. Despite this negative narrative, Iran is a strategically and economically significant nation in the world.
Iran is a resource rich nation of ninety-three million people, seventeenth largest in the world, and second largest among Middle East nations. Iran’s oil reserves are estimated at 208 billion barrels-third largest in the world, and gas reserves at thirty-four trillion cubic meters-second largest in the world. China purchases 80% of Iran’s oil, 13.5% of China’s crude oil imports. Iran is a member of the BRICS, a leadership body of the Global South. Iran is also a strategic hub of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), bridging both the land based and maritime routes of the BRI.
In summary. Before President Trump launched his preemptive war on Iran, the following was known:
Iran did not possess the quality of enriched nuclear material capable of becoming a nuclear bomb.
Iran did not possess long range delivery systems that could reach the U.S.
The U.S. military and intelligence community assessed that the U.S. was in no imminent threat of a nuclear attack from Iran.
Significant US Regime Change Actions (1961–2026)
Cuba (1961): Failed CIA-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs.
South Vietnam (1963): Support for a coup against President Ngo Dinh Diem.
Brazil (1964): Support for a military coup against President João Goulart.
Indonesia (1965–1967): Assisting in the ousting of President Sukarno.
Dominican Republic (1965): Military intervention to prevent a leftist government.
Chile (1973): Support for the military coup that ousted President Salvador Allende.
Grenada (1983): Invasion to remove the military government.
Panama (1989): Invasion to remove dictator Manuel Noriega.
Iraq (1991, 2003): The 2003 invasion directly removed Saddam Hussein.
Afghanistan (2001): Invasion to topple the Taliban regime.
Libya (2011): Backing the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi.
Ukraine (2014): Involvement in the Maidan revolution.
Venezuela ( Jan 3, 2026): Abduction of President Nicolas Maduro
Iran ( Feb 28, 2026): Elimination of the country’s leadership, and the intuition of bombing of Iran
Listed above, are overt U.S. military interventions into foreign nations to change their governments.
George Bush with Tony Blair, who advocated regime as the West’s right to intervene
Regime Change Always Fails
We know from historical experience of decades of war fighting, that nations can be weakened but not defeated by bombing campaigns alone. Boots on the ground are required to fully subjugate a nation. We also know well from U.S. military instigated regime change in this century, post kinetic war-fare plans are consistently faulty and bring unforeseen consequences. The lack of vision and propensity for fantasy has dominated all U.S. failed regime change deployments.
The most recent fiascos of regime change were President Bush’s invasion of Iraq in March 2003, and President Obama’s overthrow of Umar Gadaffi in October 2011. Bush’s overthrow of Saddam Hussein, based on false claims of Iraq’s involvement in the September 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., led to 500,000 to 1,000,000, deaths. For almost a quarter of a century following Bush’s unjustified invasion, this region of the world has suffered permanent instability and the creation of ISIS and its terrorist offshoots, triggered by the U.S. destruction of Iraq. In the more than fourteen years since Obama’s overthrow and murder of Gadaffi, Northern Africa, across the Sahel and Sahara, have been in continuous chaos. Obama created the deadliest unstable region anywhere in the world.
Former President Barack Obama has acknowledged that the most significant mistake during his presidency was the failure to develop a comprehensive plan for the aftermath of the military intervention in Libya, rather than the decision to remove Muammar Gaddafi itself.
Regime change is not a substitute for a positive foreign policy. It has never been successful, and it should never succeed. One cannot expect to improve a nation by simply eliminating its leadership through military means. The nation state is not an empty construct to be coerced or manipulated by the militarily powerful. The modern sovereign nation state, created by humankind, has advanced over several centuries. It is a precious institution, which human beings brought into existence as a means of organizing a language-culture-territory into a single sovereign entity, which can ensure continuation of its society into the future over successive generations.
No nation is perfect, but all nations can evolve, improve, and lessen their imperfection. All nations are in one sense, a continuous “work in progress.” Nations have different systems of governance derived from their history. However, all nations have an intrinsically common self-interest: the growth and development of their people. Nations are made up of human beings, who endowed with the power of creative reason, are capable of unlimited change. The art of diplomacy and statesmanship is to search for means to induce improvements of all nations. To support them on their path towards progress in accordance with the “common aims of mankind.” Genuine, thoughtful leaders find the most propitious methods to bring out the potential good of other nations. Deploying military force against another nation should be the very last resort against an aggressor.
Avoid Military Adventures
Secretary of State, (and future President), John Quincy Adams, speaking on July 4, 1821, in celebrating the Declaration of Independence, cautioned against misadventures of U.S. foreign policy:
Whenever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions, and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example. She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force…. She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit….(emphasis added).
John Quincy Adams, Sectary of State, President, and Congressman
Twenty-five years earlier, President George Washinton, had also warned about foreign entanglements in Europe:
…nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is this slave to its animosity or to its affection, either which is sufficient to lead astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another, disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay whole of slight causes of umbrage and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. (emphasis added).
Trump: MAGA or Neocon?
President Trump’s foreign policies have become indistinguishable from the neocons that he spent many years attacking. The neocons, who emerged in the Republican Party during President Reagan’s administration, became dominant in the presidency of George W. Bush. The spiritual godfather of the neocons was Leo Strauss, a follower of Friedrich Nietzsche and Carl Shmitt, a leading political jurist for the Nazis. The neocons rejected America’s unique history as an anti-colonial constitutional Republic. They believed in the right of the “elites” to use “noble lies”-disinformation, to manipulate the citizens in order to achieve the “greatness” of America. They espouse the use of a muscular military to achieve “benevolent global hegemony,” to overpower “anti-democratic” governments that threaten U.S. domination. Neocons advocate U.S. military intervention to reshape the world in accordance with their values, and to preserve America’s hegemony as far into the future as possible.
Is this not the present world view of President Trump?
President Trump and the neocons eschew the existence of a shared vision of development, common to all nations, which should be the cornerstone of foreign policy and diplomacy between nations. It is by example and leadership that the U.S. should intervene. The U.S. Constitution commits the United States to provide for the general welfare of its citizens through their educated participation in our Democratic-Republic. The consequences of neocon instigated regime change, and military intervention are on full display in: Afghanistan twenty-four years later; Iraq twenty-three years later; and Libya fourteen years later.
Vice President Dick Cheney, one of the architects of the Iraq invasion
Neocons Reject America Heritage
Neocons explicitly rejected John Quincy Adams’ prophetic advice. It should be understood that the Monroe Doctrine, also written by Adams, for President Monroe, is antithetical to President Trump’s imperialist like domination in the western hemisphere.
According to journalist Jeffrey Steinberg, (1) leading neocons, William Kristol, and Robert Kagan, writing in the 1996 issue of Foreign Affairs, called for the overthrow of more than 200 years of American anti colonial tradition, singling out John Quincy Adams as their particular nemesis.
Conservative these days, they wrote, succumb easily to the charming old metaphor of the United States as a ‘city on a hill.’
‘They hark back… to the admonition of John Quincy Adams that America not go ‘abroad in search of monsters and destroy.‘ But why not? The alternative is to leave monsters on the loose, ravaging and pillaging to their hearts’ content, as Americans stand by and watch….when America is the giant because the America has capacity to contain and destroy many of the world’s monsters, most of which can be found without much searching, and because the responsibility for peace and security of the international order rests so heavily on American shoulders, a policy of sitting on top of the hill and leading by example becomes in practice a policy for cowardice and dishonor. (emphasis added)
Richard Perle center
Reshaping the Middle East
in November 1995, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who signed an historic accord with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, was assassinated by an extremist linked to the Likud Party. The neocons seized this moment to develop a strategy for the new Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, which would reverse the potential for peace in the Middle East, as a result of the Oslo Accords.
Neocon Richard Perle, presented to Netanyahu in 1996 a new policy called, A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm. This six page document was a blueprint to reshape the Middle East under Israel’s control, which including removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and weakening Syria.
President Trump is implementing an updated version of Clean Break today, following his support for Netanyahu’s genocide of upwards of 100,000 Palestinians and the destruction of the West Bank.
MAGA has been severely fooled. Either President Trump has always been a closet neocon or has been morphed into one. Whichever it is, his policies are dangerous to the world, and he has increasingly become a threat to our American Republic.
The ‘Ignoble Liars’ Behind Bush’s Deadly Iraq War
Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, consultant on Africa, and an analyst of global strategic relations. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, also publishes on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World, and on X@lkfreemansafrica
Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney is credited with publicly proclaiming the final expiration of the rules-based international order. His so called alternative, wrongly acclaimed by the West, might be called rules-based order with a “democratic face,” since it still adheres to the axioms of the old discredited international system minus President Trump.
Column: While “rules-based order” has failed, China’s GGI provides a new vision
Source: Xinhua-January 30, 2026
This photo taken on Aug. 12, 2024 shows the Drum Tower seen from the Jingshan Hill on the Beijing Central Axis on a sunny day in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Li Xin)
Humanity desperately needs, nay, demands a new paradigm for global governance, which prioritizes economic development, free from wars, regime change and dictates, says a U.S. political-economic analyst for Africa.
Below please review my article published by Xinhua. english.news.cn
by Lawrence Freeman
It should be more than obvious by now that “the rules-based international order” created by the West has failed. Its demise, which has been accelerating in recent years, sounded its death knell at last week’s Davos conference.
This year, 2026, will continue to be turbulent and fraught with the peril of more wars. As the death agony of the international order, which has been controlling relations between nations through its military and economic might, unfolds, civilization is given the opportunity to create a new system founded on the principles of economic development.
“The rules-based order” was established under the control of the political-financial elites of the West that dominated the rest of the world for decades. It may appear to some that it was the actions of the current U.S. president, Donald Trump, that caused its demise. However, that would be inaccurate. President Trump may have accelerated the final stage of the collapse of the rules-based order, but it was always doomed to fail because of its underlying diseased ideology.
“RULES-BASED ORDER” WAS DOOMED
The fatal flaw of “the rules-based order” is its axiomatic belief that people and nations are merely manipulated players in a zero-sum game of victims and victors. Contrary to this false belief, our universe is governed by the human species, uniquely endowed with creativity. We were not created to be ruled by the mighty and the powerful, but by the power of reason. We are human beings, not animals to be culled and controlled. We are not fixed in our behavior, nor is the universe in which we exist. The physical world is not a zero-sum game board of winners and losers, but a developing and expanding universe that is continuously transformed through human creative intervention.
With the inevitable demise of “the rules-based order,” what will come next? This is not an academic question to be leisurely pondered. No, this is a call to arms for all of us to act in creating a new “international order” which corresponds to our unique human quality of creativity.
Unlike the oligarchical formation of “the rules-based order” after World War II, when a large number of nations were still under colonial rule, the new international system must represent the interests of the Global South, the majority of the world’s population.
CHINA’S CONTRIBUTION
Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) in his address to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on Sept. 1, 2025. He called for a more just and equitable global governance system, echoing the efforts by the developing nations in the 1970s to establish a “New International Economic Order.” Significantly, President Xi introduced a new concept not previously explicitly discussed by world leaders: that the goal of this new governance should be to advance toward a community with a shared future for humanity. This is true because all human beings are universally alike in our most fundamental inborn quality: creative mentation.
This concept represents a fundamental leap in the understanding that all nations have a common self-interest that should guide domestic and foreign policy. As a physical economist, I understand that policy should mean improving the physical standard of living and nurturing the creativity of the population of every nation.
President Xi also said that China is committed to the well-being of all humanity, rejects dividing the world into opposing blocs, and essentially discards outdated notions such as Western centrism.
CHINA’S COMMITMENT
China’s Global Development Initiative (GDI) states unequivocally in the opening sentence of its concept paper: Development is the eternal pursuit of human society. The GDI also emphasizes the eradication of poverty, sustainable development of agriculture and food security, and most importantly, improving industrial production capacity and manufacturing. Economic development is a core pillar of China’s concept of global governance.
There is no clearer demonstration of China’s commitment to the development of all nations than the success of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), introduced by President Xi in the fall of 2013.
In 2025, the BRI achieved new records of economic activity totaling 213.5 billion U.S. dollars, according to a report by the Green Finance and Development Center at Fudan University. It had 128.4 billion dollars in construction contracts, an increase of 81 percent over 2024, and recorded 85.2 billion dollars in investments, an increase of 62 percent. Oil and gas engagements reached 71.5 billion dollars.
Africa was the top region of economic activity for BRI engagement at 61.2 billion dollars, an increase of some 283 percent, with Nigeria at 24.6 billion dollars in construction contracts. Since its inception in 2013, the BRI has had cumulative economic activity of 1.399 trillion dollars in 150 countries around the world, according to the report.
It is indisputable that China, through advancing fundamental principles of economic development, has alleviated the suffering of millions of people in the Global South, where BRI trading partners are concentrated. All Western nations combined have not achieved this level of success in such a short period of time.
Many accept the outlook that we live in a world governed by strength, force and power, according to Stephen Miller, President Trump’s special advisor. That is categorically false. Homo sapiens developed over thousands of years by creative reason, not by force, or survival of the fittest.
Humanity desperately needs, nay, demands a new paradigm for global governance, which prioritizes economic development, free from wars, regime change and dictates. Let the GGI provide the framework for such an enlightened discussion.
Editor’s note: Lawrence Freeman is a U.S. political-economic analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for 35 years.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Xinhua News Agency.■
Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, consultant on Africa, and an analyst of global strategic relations. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, also publishes on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World, and on X@lkfreemansafrica
The decision by U.S. President, Donald Trump, to exclude South Africa from the G20, during the U.S. Presidency, is an afront to the entire G20, Africa, and all nations of the Global South, which are the majority of the world. The U.S. is now the President of the G20 from December 1, 2025, until the G20 Leaders’ Summit in December 2026. For this one year period, South Africa will suffer no harm while waiting for its participation in the G20 to be restored in 2027 when Great Britain will become the President of the G20. However, the same cannot be said for the U.S., which will experience a decline in esteem among nations throughout the world. It is still not too late for Trump to reverse his dreadful decision and function as an American Statesman in the footsteps of Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and John Kennedy; the latter two were loved by Africans.
Trump Violates the G20
The first official act of the United States’ Presidency of the G20 was on December 15, 2025, with the meeting of the G20 Sherpas and Finance Officers. However, unlike every other orderly transition for the last twenty-five years to a new Presidency of the G20, South Africa, a founding member of the G20 was excluded by President Donal Trump. The motivation for this egregious, unprecedented action by President Trump is his distorted geopolitical view of the world. There are no mechanisms in the G20 that allow the exclusion or addition of new member nations by a single nation. Such a decision can only be made by the consensus of the entire group of G20 nations.
According to the G20 South Africa website, the G20 was founded in 1999 as a response to the Asian financial crisis of 1997– 1998, as an informal forum for the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the most important industrialized and developing economies to discuss international economic and financial stability. The G20 was upgraded to the level of Heads of State/Government in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis of 2007, and in 2009, when it became apparent that the necessary crisis coordination would only be possible at the highest political level.
The role of the G20 is to create the foundation for global economic stability, a vital catalyst for economic development…
Courtesy of t20southafrica.org
G20 is composed of nineteen nations, reputed to be the wealthiest, representing around 85% of the global Gross Domestic Product, over 75% of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population, plus the European Union and African Union, a recent member.
Some U.S. officials have questioned South Africa’s right to be a member of the G20 since it is not one of twenty the wealthiest nations. As the most industrialized nation in Africa, and a leader politically and morally on the continent, South Africa’s membership is more than justified. With Africa projected to have one fourth of the world’s population by 2050, it would be strategic folly to not include South Africa in the G20.
Lies About South Africa
U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in his article, America Welcomes a New G20statedept.substack.com, exposes the outright venal lying attitude of the current U.S. presidency against the government of South Africa.
Rubio writes:
President Trump has rightly highlighted, the South African government’s appetite for racism and tolerance for violence against its Afrikaner citizens have become embedded as core domestic policies. It seems intent on enriching itself while the country’s economy limps along, all while South Africans are subject to violence, discrimination, and land confiscation without compensation.
Courtesy You Tube WION
Rubio perpetuates two lies.
One, anyone familiar with South Africa knows that the government does not have embedded policies of violence against Afrikaners. Two, land is not confiscated without compensation.
Rubio is not willing to stretch his lies as far as his boss, President Trump, who on multiple occasions has accused the South African government of practicing genocide against “white” Afrikaners. There have been accusations that white farmers have been killed and their land confiscated. No evidence has been provided to support such a claim. South African “whites” are in large part represented by the Democratic Alliance, a member of South Africa’s coalition government, who unequivocally deny Trump’s accusations of genocide. Additionally, leading Afrikaner groups have insisted that there is no genocide against Afrikaners in South Africa. Contrary to Trump encouraging “white” South Africans to emigrate to the U.S., leading Afrikaners have implored them to stay and participate in the development of South Africa, which they rightly consider their nation.
Rubio disingenuously whines that South Africa blocked the U.S. and other countries’ inputs into negotiations. It actively ignored our reasonable faith efforts to negotiate.
For these reasons, President Trump and the United States will not be extending an invitation to the South African government to participate in the G20 during our presidency.
This is the height of hypocrisy. It was Trump who refused to have an official U.S. representative at the G20 in Pretoria. In reality, as a result of Trump’s boycott of the G20 Summit, there was no one from the U.S. to negotiate with.
South Africa is a founding member of the G20, no single member of the G20 has a unilateral right to exclude South Africa from the G20…South Africa’s Presidency was built on a simple, powerful belief: that treating Africa and the Global South as equal partners and honestly addressing the systemic macroeconomic issues that impede their growth, is not an act of charity, but a strategic imperative for a stable, prosperous world.
It is a matter of public record that the United States chose not to attend our G20 meetings. Given that absence, the notion of our “sabotaging” consensus is not just incorrect, it misunderstands the very purpose of a forum like the G20. Our role as host was not to force agreement, but to create the conditions for it: a table of equals, governed by the spirit of Ubuntu. That spirit, “I am because we are”, is not a slogan. It is the philosophy that steered our nation away from the precipice of bloodshed and towards reconciliation. (emphasis added)
Admittedly, South Africa has serious challenges with its economy and has one of the highest crime rates in the world. However, it is abundantly clear that Trump’s groundless attacks on South Africa will not contribute to South Africa’s progress. More portentously, they are not intended to help South Africa.
Trump Falsely Attack South Africa
On February 7th, 2025, less than three weeks after Trump assumed the presidency of the United States, he launched his campaign against the nation of South Africa. In his Executive Order, Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa, Trump asserted that South Africa was undermining United States foreign policy, which poses national security threats to our Nation, our allies, our African partners, and our interests.
It is the policy of the United States that, as long as South Africa continues these unjust and immoral practices that harm our Nation: (a) the United States shall not provide aid or assistance to South Africa; and (b) the United States shall promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.
He then proceeded to cut off $400 million in funds for South Africa in its fight against the AIDS virus, which kills more South Africans than any other population.
President Trump spread lies about genocide in South Africa. Courtesy You Tube Al Jazeera
Earlier this year, Trump started spreading the slander that South Africa is practicing genocide against white farmers in particular. It is reported that Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, first propagated this falsehood to Trump, who continued to spread this lie even after his breakup with Musk several months later.
To this day, absolutely no evidence has been provided to support this accusation of genocide. The Democratic Alliance, which represents many of the white farmers in South Africa has rejected Trump’s claim as nonsense.Trump preceded, without regard for the truth, to confront President Cyril Ramaphosa when he visited the White House in May of this year, displaying pictures of graves Trump alleged to be white South African farmers. In reality, these photos were actually graves from another African nation. Statistics of deaths in South Africa indicate that more black farmers have been killed than white farmers. Read: Trump’s Attacks on South Africa Are Wrong and Not in the True Interest of the USA
Trump’s Failed Presidency
Trump won both his first and second campaigns to become president as an outsider, not anointed by the Eastern Liberal Establishment. This was a positive feature of his presidency for which he was ruthlessly and unfairly victimized in his first term. Due to the harsh treatment he received in his first term as president, one could understand his lack of accomplishments in foreign and domestic policy. However, instead of making him stronger and more thoughtful, he has allowed his rage and thirst for revenge, among other weaknesses, to have thus far produced a failed presidency when it comes to Africa and the Global South. His inability to rise above the fray and articulate a vision for America that is coherent with a Grand Design for the world, (think Franklin Roosevelt) to promote global economic development, has shown to be a devastating defect in his character. Combined with his lack of an in-depth understanding of the principles of the American System of Political Economy, (think Alexander Hamilton) upon which America was founded, Trump has not succeeded in advancing a true American policy for home and abroad.
Despite his accurate criticisms of the “transatlantic elites” for imposing their ideology on the world, and his efforts to establish a more positive relationship with Presidents Putin and Xi, Trump is still a psychological prisoner of the West’s “rules-based international order.” Thus far, he has not succeeded in freeing his mind from the “zero-sum” mentality that dominates the “rules-based order.” Unfortunately for the U.S. and the world, Trump’s thinking is contaminated with this perverted world view.
Is Trump’s exclusion of South Africa from the G20 yet another attempt to weaken African nations and prevent them from assuming leadership positions in global institutions? It appears that under Trump, African nations will be reduced to cogs in the supply chain of rare earth minerals for the U.S. Trump’s marginalization of Africa is on display in his new National Security Strategy, which allots three paragraphs to Africa, despite the reality that Africa will be at the center of commerce in the next twenty-five years, with its burgeoning population markets. Read: Trump Security Doctrine Rightly Criticizes ‘Trans-Atlantic Elites’-But Strategically Flawed. Fails to Prioritize Africa
BRICS and Global South growing. Courtesy of en.wikepedia.org
Why South Africa
I will repeat here what I wrote earlier this year, because of its accuracy.
Let me be bluntly honest: I know that the nation of South Africa is no security threat to United States or our allies. The real crime, if you will, committed by the government of South Africa, is not to bow to the will of the United States and the so called rules-based international order.
Specifically, South Africa has provided international, moral, political, and economic leadership in the following spheres of its foreign policy:
South Africa’s courageous leadership in bringing before the International Court of Justice, the charge of Israeli genocide against Palestinians living in Gaza, which is specifically cited in the Executive Order: “South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice.”
South Africa’s membership as the first African nation to join the BRICS, which is emerging with its nineteen members and partners, as an institution of growing influence and leadership of the new dynamic of the Global South. President Trump falsely views the BRICS as an enemy of the U.S., having twice said he will destroy the BRICS with a “100 percent tariff” and on February 14, declared that the BRICS is dead.
South Africa is a strong ally of China on the continent, and as a member of the BRICS has a close relationship to Russia. Iran, another target of the rules-based order is also a member of the BRICS. There are many “China-hawks” in President Trump’s cabinet and among his close allies, who following in the footsteps of Presidents Obama and Biden, erroneously assert that China is the number one enemy of the U.S. However, South Africa’s relations with member nations of the BRICS can be an advantage for U.S. policy.
Before the final G20 Heads of State Summit in December 2026, when the presidency is transferred to Great Britain, Trump still has the opportunity to amend his arbitrary exclusion of South Africa. For Trump not to repair its relationship with South Africa, would be a critical strategic error on the part of the U.S., further undermining its leadership in the world.
Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, consultant on Africa, and an analyst of global strategic relations. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, also publishes on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World, and on X@lkfreemansafrica
