US politics is determined by about 400 people with a combined wealth of trillions of dollars who control government decision-making from the backstage, Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, said in an interview with Radio Baltkom.

Thus power is concentrated in the hands of about 0.001 percent of the US population, Wilkerson told the Latvian radio station, stressing that it is great inequality.

According to the former official, US foreign policy has generated catastrophic results, particularly in the Middle East. Wilkerson told Radio Baltkom that the 2003 US invasion of Iraq disrupted the balance of power that had been maintained in the Persian Gulf for over 50 years.

The current volatile situation in the region is the result of US actions, Wilkerson, who served as chief of staff to Colin Powell between 2002 and 2005, stressed.