August 31, 2020
Plagues Are Back. Will Wars Follow?
The suffering inflicted by Covid-19 fits a wider 21st-century pattern: the unexpected return of old pathologies previously thought vanquished by the march of progress, now suddenly back in virulently modern forms.
Until recently, outbreaks of infectious disease were a recurring scourge of civilization. Only in the past few decades did human beings imagine we had escaped this horror.
In geopolitics, as in biology, it turns out that mankind remains susceptible to new strains of old maladies.
Great-power competition, authoritarian alternatives to democracy—these too, not long ago, were presumed to have been safely consigned to the ash heap of history. Yet in geopolitics, as in biology, it turns out that mankind remains susceptible to new strains of old maladies.
Read the full article in The Wall Street Journal.
More from CNAS
-
Commentary
Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security
The U.S.-China confrontation is not another Cold War. It’s something new.With U.S.-China relations in free fall, the Trump administration’s chief arms control negotiator recently proclaimed that "we know how to win these races and we know how to sp...
By Richard Fontaine & Ely Ratner
-
How Are Drones Changing the Landscape of Modern Warfare?
Podcast
As an increasing number of countries have begun to manufacture and export their own array of military drones, many are concerned about how drone technology is presenting a big...
By Stacie Pettyjohn
-
Commentary
Defense / Technology & National Security
The Dawn of Automated WarfareDrone-on-drone battle is now a central part of the war....
By Greg Grant & Eric Schmidt
-
Commentary
Defense / Technology & National Security
Stop Obsessing Over AGIWhat’s lacking? Thoughtful, deliberate, and evidence-based deployment and adoption strategies....
By Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan
