How does the superpower rivalry between the US and China dictate international relations more broadly? And what does it mean for the future of trade, security and development?

Lyunn Kuok, Lee Kuan Yew, Chair in Southeast Asia Studies at the Brookings Institution, and a member of the Forum's Global Future Council on Geopolitics, analyses the state of the global relations almost a year into the second Donald Trump presidency.

This episode is a collaboration between the World Economic Forum's weekly Radio Davos and Beyond the Headlines, the flagship current affairs podcast of The National, the Middle East's leading English-language newspaper. It was recorded at the Forum's Annual Meetings of the Global Future Councils and Cybersecurity in Dubai on 15 October, 2025. It is co-hosted by Mina Al-Oraibi, The National's Editor-in-Chief.

Watch a video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel: https://wef.ch/43bySEO

Links:

Network of Global Future Councils: https://initiatives.weforum.org/global-future-council
Global Future Council on Geopolitics: https://initiatives.weforum.org/global-future-council-on-geopolitics

Annual Meetings of the Global Future Councils and Cybersecurity 2025: https://www.weforum.org/meetings/annual-meetings-of-the-global-future-councils-and-cybersecurity-2025/

The National: https://www.thenationalnews.com/

Related podcasts:

Beyond the Headlines podcast: https://www.thenationalnews.com/podcasts/beyond-the-headlines/

Related Radio Davos episodes:

We have entered the age of "persistent disruption" - Visa's Wayne Best on the Chief Economists Outlook: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/radio-davos/episodes/chief-economists-outlook-visa-wayne-best/

"New era, new mood, new challenges" - historian Adam Tooze on why things will never be the same again: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/radio-davos/episodes/adam-tooze-cnbc-china-us-history/

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Superpower rivalry and geopolitics in Trump 2.0

Radio Davos