Late last week, China and the U.S. engaged in their first high-level, face-to-face discussions since the spy balloon fiasco, suggesting they have started to put the incident behind them. If they manage to sustain the latest thaw, the world will be better off, as more contact is crucial for managing a range of bilateral and global issues.
The U.N. recently projected that India will replace China as the world’s most-populous country this year, fueling discussion about whether India’s swelling population could create a “demographic dividend” that would allow it to surpass China economically as well. But India has a lot of ground to cover to meet those expectations.
At the annual G-7 summit this week, Western leaders have to decide what vision of global leadership they want to project. Beyond showing unity in opposition to Russia’s war on Ukraine and China’s military and economic assertiveness, it’s unclear what the G-7 will say about resolving the issues currently plaguing non-Western states.
