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Xi Jinping is increasingly shaping a new global order by exploiting the weakening position of the United States, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and China’s strategic partnership with Vladimir Putin, according to Bloomberg columnist and Johns Hopkins University professor Hal Brands.
Brands argues that the world is entering a period of dangerous instability, with Beijing gradually positioning itself as the central geopolitical power.
He points to recent high-level meetings in Beijing — including talks between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, as well as Xi’s separate meeting with Putin — as evidence of a shifting global balance. According to him, Xi is taking a more assertive stance in advancing China’s interests on issues such as trade disputes with the US, Taiwan, and expanding Chinese influence globally.
At the same time, Brands stresses that Russia remains China’s key strategic partner. Due to the war in Ukraine, Moscow has become increasingly economically and politically dependent on Beijing, particularly in energy exports and potential large-scale projects such as the “Power of Siberia 2” gas pipeline. He also notes Russia’s concern over China’s indirect role in supplying components used in Ukraine’s drone production.
The author emphasizes that China and Russia remain closely aligned because both seek to weaken US global influence and reshape the international order. Xi’s remark that the world is experiencing “changes not seen in a century” is cited as an example of this shared worldview.
Brands argues that Beijing’s engagement with Washington is largely tactical, allowing China to strengthen its economy, accumulate strategic resources, and reduce US pressure in technology and security sectors.
The column also highlights growing global instability driven by both powers. China is expanding its military capabilities and acting more assertively in the South China Sea and around Taiwan, while also using economic leverage to expand its global reach.
He further claims that Xi and Putin, while rivals of Donald Trump, also function as his “strange allies” in destabilizing the global system. According to Brands, US foreign policy under Trump weakens long-standing alliances that have underpinned American global leadership.
The result, he warns, is rising concern among democratic allies about the reliability of the United States itself, with some increasingly viewing Washington as a source of instability rather than a stabilizing force.
Brands concludes that authoritarian leaders like Xi and Putin are becoming more confident that the Western system of deterrence is weakening. If the US fails to recognize the scale of the challenge and consolidate its alliances, he warns, “the dictators may yet turn out to be right.”
