The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the ineffectiveness of traditional multilateralism in addressing transnational challenges — where multilateral strategies fail, however, minilateralist policies may succeed.
All in Good Governance
The success of 21st-century American statecraft will be defined by its ability to meet transnational challenges with a sustainable playbook that breaches the gap between domestic governance and foreign policy.
Across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging assumptions held by many for years about the capacity and capability of their governments. Unfortunately, not all countries in Central Asia have taken the threat of the virus seriously. Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have chosen to gamble that they can both weather the storm and minimize the damage to their power and economy.
Zelenskiy’s victory came as a shock to many, but was not entirely unexpected. Although Zelenskiy’s fresh face might be a balm in domestic politics, where corruption is rampant and toxic, but will it be enough to face Russia in the East?
In the United States, like much of the Western world, people are losing faith in Democracy. To many people, Democracy is as they have experienced it. What is absent from our societal conceptions of Democracy — and therefore our faith in it — is Democracy as we haven’t experienced it. Yet to the keen observer, the failures of Western democracies are not inherent to Democracy itself, but rather to our implementations of it.
Large bombings, only days apart, in Bogota and Derry/Londonderry have put paid to any notions of a simple peace process in either country. The Irish and Colombian peace processes face increasing uncertainty as the FARC deal remains delicately balanced against social tension and the Good Friday Agreement hangs under threat from the Brexit process. In both Colombia and Northern Ireland this situation incentivizes outbidding and conspicuous displays of force as armed groups jockey for power in anticipation of a breakdown in social order.
The media’s coverage of the Gilet Jaune movement in France gives the false impression that the French openly challenging Macron’s government through protest and strike is anything new. Alghough France desperately needs Macron’s reforms, the President must lean slowly and deliberately into them, accounting for those that will need help and time to adjust. For Macron’s marathon of reforms, only slow and steady will win the race.
In the last decade, we witnessed many stable Western democracies degenerate into populist rancor and anti-establishment upheaval. Yet, it is the capacity of the people to learn and adapt that has always proven Democracy’s ace. Perhaps now more than ever, Democracy needs a course-correct.
As public and military support continue to mount, Guaidó is preparing to challenge Maduro and has called for a change of power. At Guaidó’s behest, the first public rally for Maduro to resign will take place today, January 23rd, with a massive protest against the Maduro government. The opposition must demonstrate to the Venezuelan people and the international community that they can — and will — bring about a peaceful democratic transition. The time is now, or never.
All across developed economies, we are witnessing the dawn of another industrial revolution. The age of automation is upon us. It has the potential to bring a great deal more productivity and remove many menial jobs for a significant portion of the population. What does the future of work look like in a world without these jobs?
Header for the Column on the Libyan Civil War
This thread is meant to periodically capture the complexities of this conflict, and to provide up-to-date information about the latest movements on the political front as the nation enters a key year, when it is scheduled to have a series of UN mandated elections to determine the actual government of this war-torn nation that has seen its highs and lows since 2011.
For the last two centuries, the United States’ has developed and adapted to the demands upon it economically and geopolitically. Yet the American system of governance consistently fails to address both age-old and emerging domestic policy concerns such as job replacement from automation & free trade, political redistricting, and congressional paralysis. Rather than the fault of any one President or party, this is the result of systemic failures in the American style of Democracy.