In a new column for Foreign Policy, CIC senior fellow James Traub writes about the post-pandemic struggle for global prestige and economic dominance, and argues that both the U.S. and China are losing the fight.
"If some model has emerged as the winner of this dreadful sweepstakes, it is not China’s authoritarian one but rather that of the democracies that share China’s 'Asian values' of collective discipline, deference to authority, and faith in the state," Traub said.
In this op-ed for Foreign Policy, CIC's James Traub and Paul Von Chamier reflect on whether the spirit of solidarity in response to COVID-19 will translate into new policy choices.
"It is precisely the deep-seated inequality of Western societies that makes the imagery of solidarity look so hollow—even though, for once, we are all in this together," Traub and Chamier argue. "Thanks to the very unequal suffering we have begun to experience, the coronavirus is likelier to deepen than to alleviate our social divisions. But it does not have to be so."
In a new column for Foreign Policy, Non-Resident Fellow James Traub argues changing US policy on Syria is forcing an overdue conversation about America's role in the Middle East.
Traub draws on Democratic presidential candidates' debate statements about President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria to explore the emerging "dogma of restraint" and its implications for the future.
In Foreign Policy, Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Project director Barnett Rubin calls on the US to maintain aid to Afghanistan to keep the peace process alive amid the impact of COVID-19.
"The impact on Afghanistan of coronavirus in the United States may rival or exceed that of the breakup of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991," Rubin writes."A complete drawdown of U.S. aid and military support for the Afghan government could well lead the country to collapse."
A US withdrawal has opened the door to a possible political settlement in Afghanistan, but success will depend on regional powers and the country’s neighbors.
Non-Resident Fellow James Traub writes that the French will remain restive unless and until the effects of their president’s ambitious reforms kick in.
The big question for the world is whether the United States will now follow its old Iraq playbook, too. CIC Non-Resident Fellow James Traub digs deeper.
Non-Resident Fellow James Traub argues in his latest article for Foreign Policy that one year after his election, it's clear Emmanuel Macron isn't just a president — he's a liberal man of providence.
The Future Is Asian—but Not Chinese
In a new column for Foreign Policy, CIC senior fellow James Traub writes about the post-pandemic struggle for global prestige and economic dominance, and argues that both the U.S. and China are losing the fight.
"If some model has emerged as the winner of this dreadful sweepstakes, it is not China’s authoritarian one but rather that of the democracies that share China’s 'Asian values' of collective discipline, deference to authority, and faith in the state," Traub said.