The devastating COVID-19 pandemic has not transformed U.S. politics on health.
An Unprecedented Presidential Transition: Curated by Robert McMahon
Robert McMahon is managing editor of the Council on Foreign Relations' (CFR) Emmy-winning website, CFR.org, and cohosts a weekly foreign affairs podcast, The World Next Week. He has covered international affairs for three decades, including stints on the international desk editor of the Associated Press, and as news director and UN correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
All Does Not End Well
Pulling off a high-turnout election amid a pandemic was a triumph of American resilience. But as public policy expert David P. Fidler spells out in this piece, U.S. politics on health issues remain divided as ever, with controversies unlikely to be resolved under a Democratic administration.
Transitions Are Tricky
A raft of tough issues awaits the Biden administration. The struggles caused by a pandemic that emerged from China highlight the importance of having a skilled foreign policy. This thoughtful podcast conversation between CFR President Richard Haass and Senior Vice President James Lindsay runs the gamut—from the logistical thicket new administrations must navigate, to how to address enormous troubles in the world beyond Washington.
In this episode of the Transition 2021 series of The President’s Inbox podcast, James M. Lindsay and CFR President Richard Haass assess the world that Biden will inherit.
Primer for an Anxious Succession
As the extraordinary spectacle of a U.S. president challenging his electoral defeat plays out, Benjamin Wittes offer insights into why those efforts will fail, yet still damage the country.
Trump’s postelection shenanigans aren’t going to overturn the results. Here’s why they’re dangerous anyway.
Brave New Worldview
On one foreign policy issue after another, from climate change to immigration, President-Elect Joe Biden seems poised to sharply pivot from Trump administration positions. A look at his record in office, campaign rhetoric, and policy platforms distills the Biden worldview.
Biden will face a suite of challenges on the global stage, from nuclear tensions with North Korea to coordinating a response to the ongoing pandemic.
Beyond the Wall
Few nations endured more harsh rhetoric than Mexico in the runup to the Trump presidency but in the end Washington asked relatively little of its southern neighbor during the past four years. This piece from Shannon O'Neil forecasts that a Biden administration will be more focused on trade, environmental, and human rights issues in ways that are likely to test the Mexican government.
Beyond his bluster on migration and trade, Donald Trump actually asked little of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. That will change under Joe Biden.
New Age Diplomacy
This deep dive by two foreign policy veterans offers a path for creating a more diverse, capable department with expertise in crucial twenty-first century issues such as climate change, global diseases, and technological transformation.
Talent flight, institutional stagnation, and ever-evolving policy challenges such as COVID-19 overwhelm a beleaguered State Department.
World Order Is Different
U.S. partners and adversaries alike are now used to a world of declining American influence. Rather than revert to pre-Trump administration practices, the Biden administration should embrace fresh ideas for reintegrating with the world, writes Anne Applebaum in the Atlantic.
Other countries are learning to live without America. Biden can’t restore the pre-Trump status quo.
The Folly of North Korean Provocations
North Korea typically welcomes new U.S. presidents with a posture of bluffing, brinkmanship, and provocations to get their attention. But a longtime Korea watcher says a more businesslike approach to the new U.S. administration may prove fruitful for Pyongyang.
A return to provocations as North Korea’s primary mechanism for drawing international attention would signal weakness, not strength.
Identity Crisis?
Fractured Middle East states like Iraq continue to founder in part because of a lack of a shared national identity. This thought-provoking take by a scholar on the region reflects on whether the United States is now on the same path.
Once a country loses its sense of national identity, a national unraveling is often not far behind.
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The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher. Visit: www.cfr.org