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
-
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
-
Deterring the Powerful Enemy
It is a privilege to testify here on matters that are important to the vital national security interests of the United States, as well as those of our other allies and partner...
By Tom Shugart
-
Preserving U.S. Military Advantage Amid Rapid Technological Change
We live in a period of tremendous technological change. This disruption creates opportunities for the United States but also for our adversaries. To sustain its battlefield ad...
By Paul Scharre
-
The history and evolution of drones and their use in modern warfare
Stacie Pettyjohn joins BBC Newshour to discuss how drones continue to shape and change the modern battlefield. Listen to the full episode and more from BBC Newshour....
By Stacie Pettyjohn