Web Summit: Bridgewater Associates co-chairman Ray Dalio claims US and China conflicts could end in a military war

LISBON, Portugal, Dec. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

• Bridgewater Associates co-chairman Ray Dalio said the United States and China are engaged in five related conflicts and suggested a military war may be the end result
• Dalio said that China is a rising power challenging an established power and that in these cases, full-scale war is always a risk
• Dalio joined the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, CTO of Facebook Mike Schroepfer, and tennis star Serena Williams at the 100,000-attendee online conference Web Summit.

Bridgewater Associates co-chairman Ray Dalio today said China and the United States are fighting five related conflicts, which could result in a military war. Dalio made the remarks at the 100,000-attendee Web Summit – the largest tech conference in the world.

"China's a rising power, becoming equal or comparable to the United States in many dimensions. I'd say there are five types of conflicts – people call them wars.

"There's a trade war. There's a technology war. There is a geopolitical war. There is a capital war, and although there's not a military war, there's a military build-up war, and there could be a military war," said Dalio.

Dalio said that over the course of the last 500 years, there have been 16 instances of rising powers challenging incumbents. He said that in 12 of these cases, military war broke out. Dalio went on to say that for military war to be averted in the case of the US and China, both sides need to exercise understanding and empathy.

"I think that it's the same as (asking) what are the choices that individuals and political parties can make in the United States to assure that we don't end up in a civil war? And that is first to recognise what those things look like, to actually study them in history. History has shown essentially that civil wars, or international wars, are terrible.

"The antidote for that is the capacity to empathise and work together in a skilful way in which you build win-win relationships. That doesn't mean you're not going to compete, and I'm not saying, 'Be nice' – it is (about)  understanding what matters most to you and trying to find the things that help you and that help me," said Dalio.

About Ray Dalio

Ray Dalio is the founder, co-chief investment officer and co-chairman of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund. Under Ray's guidance, Bridgewater has developed an idea-meritocratic culture that is the foundation of the firm's success.

About Web Summit

In the words of Inc. Magazine, "Web Summit is the largest technology conference in the world". Forbes says Web Summit is "the best tech conference on the planet", Bloomberg calls it "Davos for geeks", Politico "the Olympics of tech", and the Guardian "Glastonbury for geeks".

Useful Links:
Web Summit website: https://websummit.com/
Web Summit Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/websummit/albums/
Web Summit YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJtkHqH4Qof97TSx7BzE5IQ

SOURCE Web Summit

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