How Joe Biden is transforming America’s Asian alliances
America is working to deter China even as it defends Europe from Russia
The rivalry between great powers involves much jostling over alliances. What does this mean in practice and who is winning? The past month has provided a chance to examine two competing alliance-building efforts. One is the push, led by China, to create a bloc of emerging economies that acts as a counterweight to the West. This was the aim of the brics summit held this week in Johannesburg, attended by Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping, the leaders of India and China. The other is America’s strengthening of its defence network in the Pacific. Of the two efforts, America’s is more convincing.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Mateship reinvented ”
From the August 26th 2023 edition
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