Opportunity Out of Crisis: The Case of Iran

Coronavirus has killed thousands in Iran and sickened more than 60,000. If the virus is not contained, hundreds of thousands more Iranians risk infection and death. If skillfully handled, this crisis might present the Trump administration with a unique opportunity to reduce the Iranian nuclear threat.

Why Iran Is Struggling with Coronavirus

Iran is struggling with a devastating coronavirus outbreak, a broken economy, and a severe shortage of medical equipment. Iran’s lack of transparency about its coronavirus outbreak has resulted in a catastrophic public health risk not only to the Iranian people but also to its neighbors. Tehran has confirmed more than 47,000 cases and more than 3,000 deaths, though public health experts estimate the real toll to be significantly higher.

Economic Preparations for the Post-Coronavirus Era

Once the critical danger to public health posed by the coronavirus has passed, there will be a multitude of issues to be urgently addressed, and the global economy will have to be a top priority. Planning should begin now, as enormous government interventions will be necessary. Where vast amounts of money are at stake, critical assessments have to be made ahead of time and throughout the process to avoid waste and abuse.

It’s Time to Close the Arab League

The Arab League has been an abject failure on every metric throughout its existence. As it is apparently constitutionally incapable of serving the better interests of its member states, it should be shut down.

The Coronavirus Crisis Shows Local Farming to Be an Existential Interest

The coronavirus crisis underscores agriculture’s importance as a vital national asset. Public health depends not only on the quality of medical services but also on the availability and quality of food, which makes it vital for the state to maintain the highest possible level of agricultural self-sufficiency.

Asian Soft Power Grows in the Coronavirus Era

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has ushered in a new age of global diplomacy. Asian countries are trying, with some success, to turn the global health crisis into an opportunity to enhance their soft power and fill the diplomatic vacuum left by President Trump. South Korea has launched a national campaign to brand itself as the “cutting edge” state in the fight against the virus, and its president is leading an aggressive diplomatic effort focused on the G-20 and Japan. The nations that emerge successfully from the global health crisis will gain influence, strengthen their diplomatic positions, and attract foreign investment—the essential components of soft power.

Responses to Coronavirus Expose Governments’ Fault Lines

The failures of the Pakistani and Egyptian responses to the coronavirus crisis demonstrated that neither ultra-conservative science-rejecting worldviews nor self-serving autocratic policies aimed at regime enhancement produced initial prevention and mitigation strategies that could have blunted the impact of the disease.

South Korea’s Approach to Coronavirus

The South Korean government was forced by coronavirus (COVID-19), which began in China, to take immediate action to avoid losing control over what was rapidly becoming a pandemic. Seoul had to make critical decisions fast: did it want to contain the virus according to the Chinese model by strictly enforcing closure on a danger area, limiting public freedom, and endangering the economy? Did it want to adopt the British model of essentially sacrificing the older generation on behalf of the younger (a policy Britain later changed)? Or did it want to adopt the Israeli model of closing the borders to anyone coming from a state where the virus had appeared? Seoul chose a uniquely Korean model: mapping the illness, maintaining transparency, convincing citizens to adhere to a set of rules and a policy of surveillance, and—perhaps most significantly—quickly testing as many people as it possibly could.

Coronavirus Fabrications Around the World

Dr. Edy Cohen
April 2, 2020
Paper No. 1517

The many fabrications circulating around the world about coronavirus (COVID-19) are stoking fear and threatening public health. They vary from accusations of biological warfare to myths about the ways the virus spreads and what medications might be helpful to combat it.

Coming Home to Roost: War Threatens to Spill Beyond Syria’s Borders

As tens of thousands more refugees are shunted by Turkey toward Europe and a new phase of the brutal Syrian war unfolds, Russia, Turkey, the EU, and the international community are being handed the bill for a flawed short-term approach to the nine-year conflict that lacked empathy for the millions of victims and was likely to magnify rather than resolve problems.

Perspectives Papers