Former UN official Kishore Mahbubani forecasts a widening economic gap of US$11 trillion between the US and China by the decade's end. However, escalating geopolitical tensions, particularly in Iran, could unexpectedly act as a stabilizing force for the two countries' bilateral relationship.

The economic divide between the United States and China is projected to widen to US$11 trillion by the end of the decade, yet escalating geopolitics – specifically the war in Iran and the ongoing Strait of Hormuz crisis – could inadvertently act as a stabilising force for bilateral ties, according to a prominent global strategist. Kishore Mahbubani, former president of the UN Security Council and once a top diplomat from Singapore, has forecast that the gross-domestic-product disparity between.....