If Beijing and Washington could meet in 1972 to manage a shared threat, today’s leaders can cooperate to shape the rules of AI
I approached the event with modest expectations. Strategic competition between Washington and Beijing has dominated forums for years. Numerous panels have examined trade wars, export controls and military tensions. It often feels as though the arguments recycle themselves. I wondered what more could be said. Yet the discussion proved unexpectedly revealing.
One former senior diplomat challenged the mood of anxiety that often frames such debates. Today’s world, he argued, may feel chaotic, but history suggests otherwise. Periods of strain in the international order are not aberrations; they are closer to the norm. Alliances come under pressure. Rivalries intensify. The system adjusts.
That observation prompted a broader question: if a shared adversary once brought Washington and Beijing into alignment, what, if anything, might play a comparable role today?
