LONDON – The global coronavirus pandemic has intensified rivalry between the US and China, increasing future instability in international diplomatic relations, according to an annual report on the global risks of the World Economic Forum.
The report, which builds on the views of hundreds of executives and academics associated with the WEF, as well as risk management specialists, says the pandemic threatens to widen revenues and other disparities within and between societies, increasing the risks of ‘a new rift within some states and in international relations.
Covid-19 “has consolidated state power and intensified rivalry between the United States and China,” the report says, forcing other powers to choose sides.
“With the weakening of some alliances, diplomatic relations will be more unstable at the points where superpower tectonic plates meet or recede,” he says. This trend has been accentuated as the lack of face-to-face debates has harmed traditional diplomacy.
The report is usually published just before the annual WEF meeting in Davos, Switzerland. This year, the meeting has been postponed due to the pandemic until May, when it will take place in Singapore. Next week, the forum will host a virtual meeting that will include addresses from leaders such as Chinese Xi Jinping and Indian Narendra Modi.