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The article focuses on coronavirus roiled global economies and fractured relations among major powers and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the five permanent members of the Security Council to declare a global ceasefire to calm conflict zones such as Syria and Yemen. Topics discussed include Asians embrace a cartographic pragmatism similar to what they have achieved in the economic and social spheres; 1996 Taiwan Straits Crisis and the 1999 India-Pakistan Kargil War and U.S. President Barack Obama inability to deliver a comprehensive strategy for Asia including failure to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

The article discusses the possibility of World war III in Asia. It mentions about the agreement between Japan and China in 1945 to normalize relations by not using military means, the dispute over Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, and the arise in conflict in 2017 because of the discovery of oil and gas reserves under the islands with military budgets surging, warships, coast guards and fighter jets scrambling to gain control over the commons. It further focuses on tensions on the Korean peninsula, the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, and the resolution of boundary disputes with bilateral negotiations.

The article discusses the pursuit among superstates including North America, Asia and Europe to gain access to each other's resources and market. Topics discussed include the novel "1984" by George Orwell wherein he depicted Oceania, East-asia and Eurasia as totalitarian regimes, the book "Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap? by Graham T. Allison, and the transatlantic free trade becoming the densest axis of world trade since the end of the second world war with economic bonds reinforcing the Western security al­liance.

The article discusses the potential impacts of exponential increases in technological innovation on U.S. foreign policy. Topics include the advent of ubiquitous computing or an Internet of Things, military implications of artificial intelligence (AI), and the impact of technological innovation on economic relations between the U.S. and China.

The article discusses the rise, as of June 2012, of what are referred to as the Second World states, which are nations deemed important for their geographic position, natural resources and regional influence. An overview of the role that Second World states play in the world, including in the distribution of economic assistance to Africa, the vetoing of United Nation (UN) Security Council resolutions and in mediating international conflicts, is provided.

The author reflects on Western-supported democratic transitions and regime change in Eastern European and Middle East countries. He mentions several failures of regimes supported by Western countries. He argues that Western powers must be careful with whom they support in revolutions because they risk giving authority to some self-serving leaders. He cites that some countries ruled by soft authoritarianism have been more successful than Western-supported democracies.