Foreign Expert Skinner Warns of G-20 Peril

The G-20's ascension as the world's main economic steering committee over the Group of Seven industrial nations could have dangerous consequences for the United States, foreign policy expert Kiron Skinner tells Newsmax.TV.

“It would allow countries like China and Russia to make decisions that affect the U.S.," Skinner said. "It would allow countries like Brazil and South Africa as well."

And that would be just the start, said Skinner, director of Carnegie Mellon University’s International Relations and Politics Program.

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"I’m not exactly sure where the Obama administration is on all of this, but if this keeps moving, what ultimately happens is that we have a G system that includes perhaps 33 countries, perhaps 50 countries and then we have U.S. policy being dictated to by countries like Iran and Venezuela and some smaller countries that don’t carry the kind of burden that the U.S. carries in the world,” Skinner warned.

“The U.S. provides extended deterrence for most of Europe and North America. It comprises half the defense spending of the world; it has the world’s best fighting force. Should it be dictated to by countries that don’t begin to make that kind of international contribution?”

Newsmax.TV interviewed Skinner as she attended the G-20 summit this week in Pittsburgh, asking whether she believes the United States really needs the G-20.

“That’s an issue to think about as well. Under the Obama administration, the view is that these international forums really do matter. That the U.S. is not first among equals; it’s one among many equals and that international forums are the place where some important commitments should be made. So I think it depends on who’s in the White House in the U.S. how that question gets answered,” Skinner said.

But does she think the G-20 is important for the United States.

“My view is that the international institutions are important . . . when they reduce transaction costs among states. But when they become roadblocks to effective state action then they become a major problem. And we saw at the London G-20 summit there was a major debate about what would in fact be U.S. national policy."

During that meeting, the United States and United Kingdom argued for bigger economic stimulus packages among the G-20 countries, while France and Germany appeared to win their argument for greater financial regulation at the international level, she said.

"At this G-20, they may in fact prevail even more because they are pushing for the financial regulation at a level we’ve never seen before, controlling the bonuses of bankers, and something to that effect will come out of this meeting.”

The White House ought to pull back and develop its own agenda, she said.

“There are so many summits going on, there are so many international forums that are popping up,” she said. “Let’s step back and figure out exactly what U.S. interest is in terms of all of these organizations and what our national interest is, what our domestic interests are and then try to figure out what organizations really work for the U.S.”

See Video: Kiron Skinner Warns of a More Powerful G-20 - Click Here Now