Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Quick Take

Ian Bremmer, political scientist and president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media, shares insights on global political events.

Presented by

sponsor_image

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: The G-20 of course is in full swing in Bali, Indonesia, and the first face-to-face meeting that Biden has had with Xi Jinping as president. And we shouldn't underestimate this. It's quite unusual. I mean, really unheard of, unprecedented that the two most important leaders on the global stage would have not met in person for two years. And that is indeed the case for Xi Jinping and President Biden. And it's particularly important because these are two leaders that know each other quite well and for a long time. When Biden was vice president, he had a lot of face time in many different venues with then-Vice President Xi, and they got along quite well. They actually like each other, they respect each other. I wouldn't go so far as to say they have a strong relationship of trust, but they enjoy each other's company.

And that's something that you get from Biden when you talk to him. You get the sense that he actually finds that Xi is someone he can deal with. And Biden's perspective on the world is informed by this "great man theory" of international diplomacy, that if you spend enough time with another human being, usually you can improve the relationship. And certainly, I think a big part of this meeting, a three-hour meeting that these two leaders just had on the sidelines of the G-20 is going to make a difference in slowing the escalation and the deterioration of the relationship between these two countries.

Keep reading...Show less

More from Quick Take

GZERO Series

How October 7 changed the Middle East, three years on

GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

GZERO World with Ian Bremmer
Xi wishes Putin a Happy Birthday

Puppet Regime

Puppet Regime
Brazil's election signals a rightward shift across Latin America

Quick Take

Quick Take
AI, capitalism, and who pays the price

ask ian

ask ian
The US-China battle for global dominance

Ian Explains

Ian Explains
Why the 2026 UN Water Conference is focused on action, not talk

GZERO Reports

GZERO Reports
Trump climbs down on Greenland

GZERO Europe

GZERO Europe
Trump is tanking the GOP's midterm chances. Does he care?

The Debrief

The Debrief