In The News

Deglobalization Gains Momentum: PIIE

Douglas A. Irwin April 28, 2020
International trade was already in retreat before the Covid-19. The pandemic will test cross-border supply chains, alliances, investments, travel and other connections. Douglas Irwin, writing for the Peterson Institute for International Economics, warns that protectionist steps to limit trade will slow or even reverse economic growth. He identifies recent eras of globalization: 1870 to 1914,...

Jostle for Dominance in Indo-Pacific Region: SCMP

Minnie Chan April 28, 2020
Military maneuvers continue in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and the East China Sea, as China, the United States and others manage a pandemic response. “The frequency of such tours has raised concerns among military observers and analysts that these exercises could lead to miscalculation as different countries use their militaries to jostle for greater influence or rattle the sabre amid...

Proposal to Ban Chinese From STEM Studies? Newsweek

Benjamin Fearnow April 27, 2020
The spread of Covid-19 has put economies on hold, alarming the world, and leaders look for scapegoats. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton has accused China of releasing inaccurate data on confirmed Covid-19 cases, and called it a “scandal” that US colleges and universities train so many Chinese. China is the leading source of international students for US colleges and universities. On a television news...

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...

Trade May Decline by a Third: WTO

Philip Blenkinsop, April 15, 2020
The economic downturn from the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts supply chains and could reduce trade by up to a third. The World Trade Organization predicts a range between 13 and 32 percent, “a wide range because so much about the economic impact of the health crisis was uncertain,” reports Philip Blenkinsop for the World Economic Forum and Reuters. At the height of the 2009 debt crisis, trade dropped...

Age of Clashing Empires: New Statesman

Mark Leonard April 13, 2020
Analysts are less certain that nations bound by trade might find it impossible to head to war. The US-China trade war and Britain’s embrace of Brexit signaled that decoupling was already underway. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic applied sudden brakes and exposed weaknesses. “Britain will be exiting into a totally different world, one defined by competing blocs and protectionism rather than...

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...