Human Security Archive

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, countries should be using every available tool to expand production of critical medical supplies and cooperating to avoid complete chaos. But instead, they are increasingly fighting over pieces of a too-small pie and going it alone. With dire, heartbreaking shortages of personal protective equipment for doctors and nurses and ventilators for the desperately ill, some governments have responded by restricting their exports. A few major grain exporters have begun restricting food exports. More inexplicably, some countries continue to collect duties on imports of essential medical supplies, though that is finally starting to change. […]

Plenty of observers have rushed to predict that the COVID-19 pandemic will seriously harm the political fortunes of populists, or even make populism the outbreak’s first “ideological casualty.” Populists, they assert, vilify experts; now we are all learning that the price of not listening to experts may well be our own lives. Populists, it is also often said, are the great simplifiers; now we need experienced bureaucrats and leaders who can deal with a complex challenge. Yet this valiant attempt to see a silver lining in this political moment is itself highly simplistic. Populism is not primarily characterized by hostility […]

Shortly after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan last December, the Chinese Communist Party faced a PR problem. Its attempt to cover-up the public health crisis had sparked fervent criticism from journalists, foreign governments, international organizations and, more worryingly, from Chinese citizens themselves. Once the authorities in Beijing responded to the outbreak by shutting down Wuhan and its surrounding province, the party had to rebrand. A chief part of that effort was to declare that, in the battle against the coronavirus, its authoritarian government had proved that it could manage a […]

In this week’s editors’ discussion on Trend Lines, WPR’s Judah Grunstein and Freddy Deknatel talk about the prominent role played by data in coverage of and reactions to the coronavirus pandemic. They also discuss the implications of inaccuracies—both intentional and unintentional—and disinformation in the crisis, as well as governments’ use of public diplomacy for strategic advantage. If you like what you hear on Trend Lines and what you’ve read on WPR, you can sign up for our free newsletter to get our uncompromising analysis delivered straight to your inbox. The newsletter offers a free preview article every day of the […]

Hungary’s parliament this week handed populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban expanded emergency powers aimed at tackling the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country. But critics warn that the new law gives Orban dictatorial authority, turning a public health emergency into a crisis of democracy. On Monday, the ruling right-wing Fidesz party used its large legislative majority to pass the “Protecting Against the Coronavirus” law. It allows the government to extend the state of emergency it declared on March 11 indefinitely, paving the way for Orban to continue bypassing parliament and ruling by decree until he deems the crisis […]

Like every other American institution, the United States military is struggling to deal with the spread of the novel coronavirus. Its immediate focus is on supporting civil authorities during this crisis while staying prepared for other missions. It is a complex and difficult balance to strike, and the virus is likely to take a serious long-term toll on readiness. Even after the crisis passes, things will never be the same for the military. For now, a good portion of the military is supporting civilian efforts to counter the coronavirus pandemic, much of it undertaken by the reserve components. Last week, […]

In terms of progressive ideas, Uruguay has always punched above its weight. It introduced a free, universal public education system in 1878, 40 years before the United States. Eventually, Uruguay blossomed into one of the most robust social welfare states in Latin America, with the region’s lowest income inequality. It was the first country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana and the second in the region to legalize gay marriage, after Argentina. This small country of 3.5 million people has also burnished its environmental credentials, conserving native forests, protecting biodiverse areas and striving to be carbon neutral by 2030. […]

Political leaders around the world have responded to the coronavirus pandemic in a wide variety of ways. Some are strictly adhering to the advice of epidemiologists, like the presidents of South Korea and Taiwan. Others are brazenly launching autocratic power grabs, in the case of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban. Still others are to trying to deny reality itself, as in Turkmenistan, where the government has banned the word “coronavirus.” In Latin America, the responses from national leaders have ranged from buffoonish irresponsibility to stern action. The region is a good place to try to identify what it is about […]

Editor’s Note: You can find all of our coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here. If you would like to help support our work, please consider taking advantage of our subscription offer here. With a third of the global population on lockdown amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 40,000 people as of March 31, governments are rightfully thinking about how to make it easier for their citizens to stay home and reduce activities that are likely to further spread the disease. The restrictions on movement, while important for public health reasons, mean that millions of workers are losing […]

Editor’s Note: Every Wednesday, WPR Newsletter and Engagement Editor Benjamin Wilhelm curates the week’s top news and expert analysis on China. The Chinese government said Tuesday it would start reporting on cases of coronavirus patients who show no symptoms of the disease. The announcement was an implicit acknowledgement that Beijing had been hiding confirmed asymptomatic cases of the virus, as several media reports have alleged. But despite this increase in transparency, there are still reasons to treat China’s coronavirus data with skepticism. The spread of the virus has slowed in recent weeks and authorities have loosened restrictions in much of […]

Rather than introducing a new world order, the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic are reinforcing recent trends of strategic competition among the United States, Europe and China. As the potential magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic became clear in March, there was a lot of immediate speculation about just what its impact would be. Many of those initial predictions announced a radically transformed world order. A triumphant China, some declared, would capitalize on its success in containing the outbreak to emerge as the new global leader. A closer look at the subsequent responses to the pandemic by governments around the world […]