Just as China led the world in economic recovery in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008, it is playing a similar role today. Its post-COVID rebound is gathering momentum amid a developed world that remains on shaky ground. Unfortunately, this is a bitter pill for many to swallow – especially in the United States, where demonization of China has reached epic proportions.

The U.S. is suffering the world’s worst COVID-19 outbreak among countries of its relative wealth, and many citizens - including presidential candidates Trump and Biden - are pointing fingers at China. The climate of xenophobia and discrimination has put the Asian American demographic at risk physically, and economically.

There is no single future until it happens, and any effort to envision geopolitics in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic must include a range of possible futures. I suggest five plausible futures in 2030, but obviously others can be imagined.

Painful lessons have been learned worldwide, and they should not be squandered. It’s time to rebuild a global health system that will work in the crises yet to come.

Even as the global pandemic continues to unfold, geopolitical maneuvering remains in play. The outbreak has exposed how struggles for power, respect, and control play out even in matters of public health as powerful nations aim to maximize their gains alongside a working treatment.

Private businesses are taking on massive amounts of debt, kicking the can down the road for an extreme depression later on. What both China and America need is a program of unprecedented public investment.

The COVID-19 pandemic has cemented the US-China “Cold War”, as evidenced by the US government communication efforts against China, with both domestic and international audiences in mind.

According to a new report, US states are the most virus-affected relative to major economies. As COVID-19 has proceeded in two phases, containment failures in the West continue to fuel the pandemic and unleash economic damage.

The respective responses of China and the United States to the outbreak produced widely different outcomes. The mode of attack is ultimately tied to the expectations of ordinary people about their systems of government.