FILE: Washington D.C., USA - October 2024 (CCTV Video News Agency - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of White House

Beijing, China - Released on June 20, 2025 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Video interview in progress

France - Released on June 20, 2025 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Odd Arne Westad, scholar of modern international and global history, Yale University (starting with shots 12/partially overlaid with shot 4/ending with shot 5):
"One of the biggest problems in the pre-1914 world was the kind of economic warfare that many powers engaged in against each other, tariffs for instance. It's remarkably similar to what we see today. These approaches always never work. They destabilize the international situation for very, very little gain."

Beijing, China - Released on June 20, 2025 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
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4. CGTN anchor
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5. Video interview in progress

FILE: New York City, USA - October 2024 (CCTV Video News Agency - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of port scene, Statue of Liberty

France - Released on June 20, 2025 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Odd Arne Westad, scholar of modern international and global history, Yale University (partially overlaid with shots 8-10):
"What we didn't have before 1914 but do have today are international organizations. Global international organizations like the UN and its agencies, but also many other organizations. Participating in those fully, letting them get more of a position and room to play within the international community is something that can help reduce the overall tensions that led to war 100 years ago. So, these are the kinds of lessons that we have to draw from the past. The problem is to avoid getting into a situation when this becomes a slippery slope, where people, the same people, conclude that war might be the only way out. That's what we have to avoid."

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Beijing, China - Released on June 20, 2025 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Video interview in progress

FILE: U.N. Headquarters, New York City - July 24, 2024 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
9. Various of U.N. headquarters, flags

FILE: Geneva, Switzerland - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
10. U.N. flag
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FILE: U.N. Headquarters, New York City - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
11. U.N. headquarters
12. U.N. flag

A dangerous "slippery slope" of confrontation between the world's major countries must be avoided before humanity is plunged into another catastrophic military warfare, warned Odd Arne Westad, a history scholar at Yale University.

Speaking in an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) which aired on Friday, Westad highlighted that the international trade landscape has been fractured by mounting geopolitical tensions. He drew a chilling parallel between the growing protectionism in present-day world and the economic nationalism that triggered World War I.

The professor warned that tariff wars or trade wars will only destabilize the hard-worn postwar international order and leave no one unscathed.

"One of the biggest problems in the pre-1914 world was the kind of economic warfare that many powers engaged in against each other, tariffs for instance. It's remarkably similar to what we see today. These approaches always never work. They destabilize the international situation for very, very little gain," he said.

However, Westad remains hopeful, saying that unlike in the pre-1914 era, today's international organizations like the United Nations have the chance to play a role in preventing history from repeating itself again. He appealed to humanity to learn from the past and come together to avoid the unthinkable, which is another military conflict on a global scale.

"What we didn't have before 1914 but do have today are international organizations. Global international organizations like the UN and its agencies, but also many other organizations. Participating in those fully, letting them get more of a position and room to play within the international community is something that can help reduce the overall tensions that led to war 100 years ago. So, these are the kinds of lessons that we have to draw from the past. The problem is to avoid getting into a situation when this becomes a slippery slope, where people, the same people, conclude that war might be the only way out. That's what we have to avoid," he said.