Source Posts on X
there are obvious tensions around high capabilities, but I think Americans underrate how *big* the "global south" is and how *boned* their elites feel. Group of 77 is 6.4 billion people (including China). They really hoped to industrialize and be relevant, and it feels like it's slipping away, first with IT and ultimately with AI. Xi is consistently running on this Global South appeal, in this he's pretty Maoist, except he exports solar panels and not backing for psychotic guerillas. (So, really more like the Soviet model in Africa). BRI is part of the same career-long program. He wants China to be the tech and development champion of the entire non-Western world, the hub of the global wheel, and (cynically) first dibs on their resources. He's probably pretty happy that AI + Trump are making it a super compelling proposition at last.