How economic interdependence fosters alliances and democracy

And why China’s economic might lacks political clout

May 25th 2022

On his whirlwind tour of Asia, concluded on May 24th, President Joe Biden conducted himself with the awkward urgency of a man trying to correct a costly error. China may be reeling, but the ambivalent reaction, outside rich democracies, to America’s late search for solidarity reveals how Washington’s global influence has faded relative to Beijing’s. Mr Biden’s proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, unveiled on May 23rd, seems an acknowledgment of why that is: for too long America had all but abandoned efforts to forge new economic ties in the region.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The ties that bind”