In October’s Le Monde diplomatique in English, Renaud Lambert argues that contrary to received wisdom, Beijing is benefiting from US global hegemony. ‘It sees Washington’s bad behaviour as still preferable to an intensified Sino-American rivalry that would disrupt trade flows.’ For now, China is in a strange position: ‘Its development model allows it to aspire to the status of the world’s leading power, but is built on structures that currently prevent it from getting there.’ Quoted in a piece last year, the influential Hong Kong banker Charles Li said: ‘I don’t think China wanted to be number one … Because there’s a responsibility coming from being number one. And that itself is not terribly Chinese … We want it to be number two, number three.’

Back in 2021, the director of Le Monde diplomatique’s Brazilian edition Silvio Caccia Bava warned that Jair Bolsonaro’s defeat in the 2022 election may not be the end of Bolsonarism. And indeed, one of his sons, Flávio, has taken up his father’s mantle — and placed first in the initial round of the presidential election this month. As Christophe Ventura writes in this month’s edition, the US tipped the scales to favour this outcome.

Settler attacks escalate in the West Bank, Albania pushes back against corruption in the tourism industry, and the nations of the South Pacific shift the climate conversation from pleas for help to questions of human rights and state responsibility. To dive into the stories behind the news, read ‘the longer view’ each month. Our entire archive is available online to subscribers.