The impossible quest for absolute security

Washington

THE G-20 summit in Hamburg, the Russian-Chinese presidential meeting and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leadership summit underline new concerns driving such public gatherings of world leaders. Among the major obstacles to great-power cooperation that preoccupies leaders is how they perceive one another as selfishly advancing their individual national security regardless of the concerns of others.

At the G-20 summit, some delegates criticised the US policy of putting American economic int…