Here’s a headline designed to freak out even the most relaxed China basher, conspiracy theorist, or Cold Warrior:

OPEC to Strengthen China Collaboration

You can almost hear the blood pressure spiking at the right-wing think tanks. This is what happens when the U.S. either ignores countries in a region (Africa), snubs them (ASEAN) or actively pisses them off (Middle East). Time and again over the past few years, China has stepped in and taken diplomatic and economic advantage of the situation.

Now, I’m not trying to push the zero-sum-game theory of competition between China and the U.S. In fact, one wonders what Africa could look like in a few years if the U.S. and China work together instead of compete. These days it seems to be either the World Bank route or the bilateral investment route, with no broad international consensus on a third way. Too bad.

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