Bill Clinton: U.S. should be prepared to lose global dominance

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton believes that Washington must brace for loss of global dominance in the face of rapidly developing economies like China and India.

"When another nation’s economy overtakes ours, it will rely exclusively on itself to acquire greater military power, and no longer on the U.S.", stated Clinton last night at the seventh annual meeting of the Yalta European Strategy (YES) held in the Crimean peninsula (Ukraine).

"Once we lose control, I would still like the U.S. to remain influential in a positive sense," said the former president, adding that his intention is to build "bridges of friendship" between the U.S. and other nations.

He also recommended the U.S. should give up some of its current privileges if it is to move forward. "Sooner than later, any system reaches a point where it prefers to preserve things as they are rather than to evolve (...). We need the courage to downsize a very comfortable lifestyle so that our children and grandchildren may live in a world that is ever changing for the better", he said.