China

Given that Chinese counterfeiting has benefits as well as costs, and considering China’s historical resistance to Western pressure, trying to push China to change its approach to intellectual property law is not worth the political and diplomatic capital the United States is spending on it.

As Obama and Xi meet today, it is a good thing that they are apparently more interested in substance than formalities. Both are aware of the need to develop a new type of great-power relationship built on partnership, and the best way for them to do so is to roll up their sleeves and get to work.

Instead of complaining to the Chinese about Internet censorship and promoting niche software for dissidents to get around it, Washington should focus its energy on making sure American businesses in China have reliable and secure web access. That would be an easier sell in China and would help advance human rights more than the current approach.

The time to fret about when China will acquire drones is over: it has them. The question now is when and how it will use them. But as with its other, less exotic military capabilities, Beijing has cleared only a technological hurdle -- and its behavior will continue to be constrained by politics.