There was a time when European summits would provide glimpses of the future world order. Those times are gone. Today, those searching for portents of thing to come will have to look at East Asian Summits, like the one that just ended in Bali, Indonesia.

The US and Russia participated for the first time. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the hosts of the EAS, did not push for their participation. Instead, both asked to be invited. Why did Washington decide to add another overseas summit to Barack Obama’s already heavy schedule? The answer is China.

Throughout history, the most important geopolitical relationship has been between the world’s greatest power currently the US – and the world’s greatest emerging power – currently China. Normally, we should have seen rising geopolitical tensions between the two. Instead, we have witnessed unusual calm.