In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin is welcomed by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other officials upon his arrival at Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing late on May 19, 2026. Vladimir Smirnov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of the Bridgewater hedge fund, says that the United States is now seen as an unreliable military ally, and so leaders are increasingly having relations with China that are “like a tribute system.”
In such a system, historically, weak nations pay tribute to a powerful emperor for the “privilege” of not being invaded. Sometimes the tribute is symbolic, and sometimes a burdensome tax.
Anders Corr has a bachelor’s/master’s in political science from Yale University (2001) and a doctorate in government from Harvard University (2008). He is a principal at Corr Analytics Inc. and publisher of the Journal of Political Risk, and has conducted extensive research in North America, Europe, and Asia. His latest books are “The Concentration of Power: Institutionalization, Hierarchy, and Hegemony” (2021) and “Great Powers, Grand Strategies: the New Game in the South China Sea” (2018).
