During their recent virtual summit, the presidents of China and Russia China had plenty of reason to discuss what to do about their respective external threats. China’s Foreign Ministry said it would rev up coordination between the two in search of a strategic counterbalance.

A just cause enjoys abundant support while an unjust one does not. At a time when most countries in the Asia-Pacific region are striving to maintain peace and stability, the U.S. has deliberately waded in to create antagonism and the potential for cutthroat competition.

Both the EU and ASEAN have largely criticized the newly announced AUKUS deal, leaving many European nations and China’s neighboring states scrambling to respond to the addition of nuclear submarines to Australia’s arsenal.

What is the role of the SCO in stabilization and reconstruction? The capacity of its members may be limited, but the U.S. withdrawal presents an opportunity to build credibility. Failure to act may invite skepticism in the international community about the group’s ability to participate in international affairs.

The new three-way alliance reflects a new U.S. orientation toward its partners as it seeks to raise barriers to China. Giving a $50 billion cold shoulder to France over nuclear submarine technology is just one example.

For a decade, the focus of the United States has shown a high degree of continuity, starting with George W. Bush and followed by Barack Obama, Donald Trump and now Joe Biden. But America is now paying greater attention to detail and adding new features to its geostrategic approach.

Rhetoric at NATO’s recent summit intensified the U.S.-China rivalry in global affairs. Now that the U.S. is in competition with China, will NATO member states follow suit?

In their latest communiqué, NATO leaders declared that China presents “systemic challenges to the rules-based international order.” The response from China’s mission to the European Union was clear: “We will not present a ‘systemic challenge’ to anyone, but if someone wants to pose a ‘systemic challenge’ to us, we will not remain indifferent.” Such a tit-for-tat rhetoric is unnecessary, and most of the world’s population probably does not want it to escalate. Yet escalation is becoming more likely every day.

Southeast Asia’s coalition of small-to-medium sized nations have hosted superpower conflicts, yet they are overshadowed by larger regional powers on the global stage time and time again. American leadership will struggle to find welcoming allies there without a drastic upgrade in its dealings with ASEAN member nations.

Efforts to placate both the United States and the PRC are proving ever more challenging, as the recent Group of Seven and NATO summits have shown.