Straddled by the Gobi Desert to the east and the mountains of Kyrgyzstan to the south, the Kazakh city of Khorgos is located in one of the most inaccessible regions on the Eurasian continent. Despite this fact, its proximity to Xinjiang province, which is China’s westernmost province, has made this otherwise geographically isolated city a point of both intense optimism and contention for the respective Kazakh and Chinese governments.

Given the recent turmoil facing American politics, it would seem like the United States is the laughing stock of the world. It’s not like U.S. leadership under President Donald Trump hit a historical...