Stephen Walt
Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations
Harvard Kennedy School

The World Order after COVID and Trump

July 13, 2021
Noon-1:15 pm EDT
Zoom

Talk Abstract
The COVID19 pandemic is the most disruptive global event since the Great Depression and World War II.  As of June 2021, at least 177 million people have been infected and 3.83 million have died.  The world economy has suffered a deep recession, public debt levels have soared, and future growth prospects in many places have dimmed.

Even so, the current pandemic has not transformed the essential nature of world politics.  The territorial state will remain the basic building-block of international affairs, nationalism will remain a powerful political force, and the major powers will continue to compete for influence in myriad ways.  Instead of encouraging higher levels of international cooperation, Covid19 is likely to reinforce divisive trends that were underway before the first case was detected.  In particular, it will reinforce the partial retreat from globalization, increase existing gaps between rich and poor both within and between countries, and give both democratic and non-democratic governments greater power to track and monitor their citizens’ lives. 

Joe Biden took office vowing to reverse these trends and reinvigorate a “rules-based order.”  Success will require that he abandon not only the “America First” approach of his immediate predecessor, but also some of the key policies of the Obama, Bush, and Clinton administrations.