LONDON – The global coronavirus pandemic has intensified rivalry between the United States and China, increasing future instability in international diplomatic relations, according to an annual report on global risks from the World Economic Forum.
The report, which draws on the opinions of hundreds of executives and academics associated with the WEF, as well as risk management experts, says the pandemic threatens to increase income and other disparities within and between societies, increasing the risks of a new fracture within some states and in international relations.
Covid-19 “consolidated state power and intensified rivalry between the United States and China,” says the report, forcing other powers to choose sides.
“With the weakening of some alliances, diplomatic relations will become more unstable at points where the superpower tectonic plates meet or retract,” says the document. This trend was accentuated because the lack of face-to-face discussions hurt traditional diplomacy.
The report is usually published just before the annual WEF meeting in Davos, Switzerland. This year, the meeting was postponed because of the pandemic until May, when it will be in Singapore. Next week, the forum is organizing a virtual meeting that includes speeches by leaders such as Chinese Xi Jinping and Indian Narendra Modi.