The global economic crisis has driven the United States to adopt a more aggressive foreign policy, as shown by its actions in the South China Sea, a Brazilian expert has said.
"The global situation and the signs that the financial and economic crisis is worsening are sparking anxiety among societies around the globe, and threatening both national sovereignty and world peace," Severino Cabral, director of the Brazilian Institute of Asia and Pacific Studies, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Washington's decision to stoke China's maritime dispute with the Philippines by throwing its weight behind Manila seriously violates China's long-established rights over its territorial waters, Cabral said.
According to the expert, today's economic pressures have made the United States ignore history.
Washington's "pivot to Asia," a major policy shift first outlined in 2011, is largely due to the 2008 global financial and economic crisis, which weakened the U.S. power, Cabral said.
Cabral said negotiation between the sides involved is the correct way to solve the maritime disputes in the South China Sea as it can alleviate the tensions which are sparked by the disputes and escalated by the interference of third parties.
