SACHS: ERA OF SINGLE CENTRE OF POWER BELONGS TO PAST

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 28 /SRNA/ - American economist and Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs said that the era of a single center of power belongs to the past and that multipolarism should be accepted as both a mindset and a reality of the modern world.

Sachs identified three principles as key pillars of sustainable development - multipolarism, multilateralism and multi-ethnic governance, the Republika Srpska Office for International Cooperation said. "Multipolarism means that major powers cooperate, primarily in the field of security, while multi-ethnic governance is a complex issue that requires a specific approach," Sachs said, stressing that globalism is a partnership of equals rather than the domination of a single center of power. Speaking about the Balkans, Sachs recalled that it is a region that geographically connects East and West, North and South, and is a historic trade route that has attracted empires for centuries, from the division of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western parts to Ottoman influence. "This region naturally produces leaders and possesses significant natural resources, particularly hydropower potential," Sachs said. One of the central messages of the lecture "Republika Srpska in a Multipolar World," which Sachs delivered today at the University of Banja Luka, was that there are no profound reasons for conflict among the major powers today, since none of them lacks food, water or energy. "Instead of conflict, there is broad scope for cooperation, particularly in managing artificial intelligence, combating climate change and responding to global health crises such as the COVID pandemic, which are examples of challenges requiring joint, global governance," Sachs said. Speaking about global challenges, he said that his greatest concern was maintaining world peace. "We are at the end of the road - another world war would be the last one. That is my greatest concern. We have the ability to do incredibly terrible things for no reason at all, simply because we have weapons," Sachs warned. Commenting on the current geopolitical situation, Sachs said that the crisis in Ukraine was a result of NATO's eastward expansion, describing it as a continuation of Cold War logic. He criticized the efforts of the United Kingdom, Germany and France to wage war against Russia. "A positive example is China, which, despite its strength, has not had the imperialist tendencies that characterized other powers," Sachs said. Sachs advocates a good-neighbor policy, which he defined as the principle that a good neighbor does not interfere in the internal affairs of smaller countries. "Major powers must respect each other's red lines and take each other's interests into account," Sachs said. He also specifically warned about the danger of climate change as a challenge that knows no borders. "Climate change is not a myth but a reality, and this year alone we have seen its scale through enormous droughts and floods. We must address this through these technologies, but also through cooperation," Sachs said, noting the possibility of a global network of universities working together to solve these challenges. Renowned American economist and Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs was presented with an honorary doctorate in Banja Luka today for his contribution to the development of economic relations and the peaceful resolution of international conflicts.