Is the US in decline while China’s power grows?

Ian Explains: America Down, China Up | GZERO World

Who said last year that the biggest source of chaos in the present-day world is the US?

Not the leader of Russia. Not of North Korea. Not even of Iran.

It was Xi Jinping, who believes America poses a major risk for China.

The US feels the same about China. And while the two probably won't go to war anytime soon, ties remain tense. What's more, China has become so powerful that its political system is now accepted by all.

While China’s economic growth has been impressive, even during COVID, the pandemic has widened inequality and political divisions in the US. For Beijing, it's a sign that the East is rising as the West declines. Is it? Ian Bremmer takes a look.

Watch the GZERO World episode: Does China's rise have to mean America's decline?

More from GZERO Media

Supporters of Jose Antonio Kast, presidential candidate of the far-right Republican Party, wave Chilean flags as they attend one of Kast's last closing campaign rallies, ahead of the November 16 presidential election, in Santiago, Chile, on November 11, 2025.

REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido

This Sunday, close to 16 million Chilean voters will head to the polls in a starkly polarized presidential election shaped by rising fears of crime and immigration.

A robot waiter, serving drinks at the Vivatech technology startups and innovation fair, in Paris, on May 24, 2024.

  • Magali Cohen / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect

Imagine sitting down at a restaurant, speaking your order into your menu, and immediately watching a robot arrive with your food. Imagine the food being made quickly, precisely — and without a human involved, because the entire restaurant is fully roboticized.