In The News

World After Covid-19: The Economist

Kishore Mahbubani April 23, 2020
Kishore Mahbubani, founding dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, has long observed that the era of Western domination is ending. The Covid-19 pandemic hurries the demise and marks the start of an Asian century. “The crisis highlights the contrast between the competent responses of East Asian governments (notably China, South Korea and Singapore) and the incompetent responses of...

Lives Versus Livelihoods: Japan Times

Gwynne Dyer April 17, 2020
COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China, and China imposed strict lockdown measures for 70 days. The city has reopened with officials screening temperatures and citizen movements. Other nations, especially the United States, hope to reopen economies after 30 days of lockdown isolation with less stringent measures. “Everybody knows that you can’t shut the economy down indefinitely, but nobody wants to...

COVID-19: A View From Latin America

April 16, 2020
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 remain deceptively low throughout Latin America, yet the exponential spread will hit the region hard. A group of former leaders point to uneven policy response and warn that the shock and uncertainty could pose catastrophic consequences for the region. Leaders must move rapidly, prioritizing public health rather than trying to evade the threat with populism,...

Nasty Competition for COVID-19 Gear: Speigel

Marian Blasberg, Georg Fahrion, Alexander Sarovic and Fritz Schaap April 15, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic pushed government officials at all levels to place big orders for medical protective gear. Then suppliers cancel orders after the US president implemented the Defense Production Act, allowing the US government to commandeer supply chains, even convincing Chinese manufacturers to cancel contracts for products already paid for by other customers. “The World Trade Organization...

The Coronavirus Won’t Stop Globalization: Lawfare

Raphael S. Cohen April 13, 2020
As countries close borders to contain COVID-19 and consider new trading patterns for essential goods, analysts contemplate the end of globalization. Raphael S. Cohen, senior political scientist with Rand, refutes three sets of arguments. First, globalization has long endured destructive populism, deep divisions and pandemics. Second, viruses are part of the natural world, and the most competitive...

Disagreement on COVID-19 Policy: Global Policy

Benjamin Cashore and Steven Bernstein April 9, 2020
The world has more than 1.4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 with more than 80,000 dead, and numerous countries tackle the public health crisis with mixed results. World leaders are in a hurry to reopen economies, and even public health experts have differed on how to contain the disease’s spread, with approaches ranging from the early prevention to delays and denials. Professors Benjamin...

Global Call for Action

April 9, 2020
More than 200 political leaders, economists, academics and directors of NGOS have issued a call to action from G20 governments, urging immediate global coordination and emergency measures for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis. Both crises “require world leaders to commit to funding far beyond the current capacity of our existing international institutions,” explains the letter...