A changing global order pyramid

The great power turbulence offers India a chance to build on its own commitments in Indo-Pacific while the US recentres focus on the western hemisphere

- HARSH V PANT VIVEK MISHRA

IN ANY ERA, one of the most noticeable ways in which the direction of shifts in the global order can be identified is to monitor the great powers’ behaviour.

Clearly, the spectrum of developments that lies between China’s rapid ascent in the past two decades and the US’s recalibration since have been the single most important trend outlining the character of the impending order. In this context, the recent meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping has been a timely reflection. Coming after six years, the meeting between Trump and Xi in Busan was perhaps the intended pinnacle of Trump’s three-nation Asia trip. It combined Trump’s desire to project an America-on-the-top image visa-vis China with the urgency to bring down tensions in the US.