When President Trump emerged from the recent US-China summit declaring the arrival of a “G-2 world”—a globe dominated by two rivalrous but cooperating hegemons—he was articulating something most of the international system already suspects: that the United States and China are in a category of power unto themselves. By any quantifiable measure, they are. Yet a closer examination of what that power actually buys shows the summit’s triumphalism to ring hollow. Moreover, the world’s preoccupation with this supposed G-2 duopoly may itself be merely a distraction that obscures something more consequential: the degree to which the rest of the world quietly and effectively constrains both of them, defining a new superpower-less world dominated by market forces driven by advanced technology, influential non-state actors, and soft power. And that’s mainly to the good.
Read Full Article »
