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COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment—Overview of Issues and Further Reading for Congress

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COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment— Overview of Issues and Further Reading for Congress Updated May 4, 2020 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R46336 SUMMARY COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment—Overview of Issues and Further Reading for Congress R46336 May 4, 2020 Ronald O'Rourke Specialist in Naval Affairs Some observers argue the COVID-19 pandemic could be a world-changing event with potentially profound and long-lasting implications for the international security environment and the U.S. role in the world. Other observers are more skeptical that the COVID-19 pandemic will have Overview of Issues and Further Reading for Congress

April 30, 2020 (R46336)
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Contents

Summary

Some observers argue the COVID-19 pandemic could be a world-changing event with potentially profound and long-lasting implications for the international security environment and the U.S. role in the world. Other observers are more skeptical that the COVID-19 pandemic will have such effects.

such effects. Kathleen J. McInnis Specialist in International Security Observers who argue the COVID-19 pandemic could be world-changing for the international security environment and the U.S. role in the world have focused on several areas of potential change, including the following, which are listed here separately but overlap in some cases and can interact with one another:

  • world order, international institutions, and global governance;
  • Michael Moodie Assistant Director and Senior Specialist in Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade     world order, international institutions, and global governance;            the relative prevalence of democratic and authoritarian or autocratic forms of government;  the role of Congress in setting and overseeing the execution of U.S. foreign and defense policy. U.S. global leadership and the U.S. role in the world; China’U.S. global leadership and the U.S. role in the world;
  • China's potential role as a global leader;
  • U.S. relations and great power competition with China and Russia, including the use of the COVID-19 pandemic as a theme or tool for conducting ideological competition;
  • the relative prevalence of democratic and authoritarian or autocratic forms of government;
  • societal tension, reform, transformation, and governmental stability in various countries;
  • the world economy, globalization, and U.S. trade policy;
  • the characteristics and conduct of conflict;
  • allied defense budgets and U.S. alliances;
  • the cohesion of the European Union;
  • the definition of, and budgeting for, U.S. national security;
  • U.S. defense strategy, defense budgets, and military operations;
  • ; U.S. foreign assistance programs and international debt relief;
  • activities of non-state actors;
  • the amount of U.S. attention devoted to ongoing international issues other than the COVID-19 pandemic; and
  • the role of Congress in setting and overseeing the execution of U.S. foreign and defense policy.

and Issues for Congress may include whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic could change the international security environment, whether the Trump Administration's actions for responding to such change are appropriate and sufficient, and what implications such change could have for the role of Congress in setting and overseeing the execution of U.S. foreign and defense policy.

Congress' Congress’s decisions regarding these issues could have significant and even profound implications for U.S. foreign and defense policy, and for the status of Congress as a co-equal branch relative to the executive branch in setting and overseeing the implementation of U.S. foreign and defense policy.


Introduction

Some observers argue the COVID-19 pandemic could be a world-changing event with potentially profound and long-lasting implications for the international security environment and the U.S. role in the world. Other observers are more skeptical that the COVID-19 pandemic will have such effects. This report provides a brief overview of some potential implications the COVID-19 pandemic might have for the international security environment and the U.S. role in the world, Congressional Research Service COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Overview of Potential Implications ................................................................................................. 1 World Order, International Institutions, and Global Governance.............................................. 1 U.S. Global Leadership and Role in the World ......................................................................... 2 China’s Potential Role as a Global Leader................................................................................ 2 U.S. Relations and Great Power Competition with China and Russia ...................................... 2 Democracy, Authoritarianism, and Autocracy .......................................................................... 3 Societal Tension, Reform, and Transformation, and Governmental Stability ........................... 3 World Economy, Globalization, and U.S. Trade Policy ............................................................ 3 Allied Defense Spending and U.S. Alliances ............................................................................ 4 European Union ........................................................................................................................ 4 Definition of, and Budgeting for, U.S. National Security ......................................................... 4 U.S. Defense Strategy, Defense Budget, and Military Operations ............................................ 4 U.S. Foreign Assistance and International Debt Relief ............................................................. 5 Non-state Actors ........................................................................................................................ 5 U.S. Attention to International Issues Other than COVID-19 ................................................... 5 Role of Congress ....................................................................................................................... 5 Further Reading......................................................................................................................... 5 Potential Issues for Congress........................................................................................................... 5 Appendixes Appendix A. Related CRS Reports ................................................................................................. 7 Appendix B. Additional Writings .................................................................................................... 8 Contacts Author Information........................................................................................................................ 32 Congressional Research Service COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Introduction Some observers argue the COVID-19 pandemic could be a world-changing event with potentially profound and long-lasting implications for the international security environment and the U.S. role in the world. Other observers are more skeptical that the COVID-19 pandemic will have such effects. This report provides a brief overview of some potential implications the COVID-19 pandemic might have for the international security environment and the U.S. role in the world, and a bibliography of CRS reports and other writings for further reading. and a bibliography of CRS reports and other writings for further reading.

Issues for Congress may include whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic could change the international security environment, whether the Trump Administration's actions for responding to such change are appropriate and sufficient, and what implications such change could have for the role of Congress in setting and overseeing the execution of U.S. foreign and defense policy.

Congress' Congress’s decisions regarding these issues could have significant and even profound implications for U.S. foreign and defense policy, and for the status of Congress as a co-equal branch relative to the executive branch in setting and overseeing the implementation of U.S. foreign and defense policy.

Appendix A presents a list of CRS reports that provide more in-depth discussions of issues presented in this report. Appendix B presents a list of additional writings reflecting various perspectives on these issues. A separate CRS report discusses the question of whether the U.S. role in the world is changing as a result of factors other than the COVID-19 pandemic.1

1 Overview of Potential Implications

Areas of potential change reflected in writings from observers who view the COVID-19 pandemic as a potentially world-changing event include but are not limited to those discussed below. Although these areas of potential change are presented separately, they overlap in some cases and can interact with one another.

World Order, International Institutions, and Global Governance

Some observers have focused on the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic could cause or accelerate a decline or erosion in the U.S.-led liberal international order that has operated since World War II, in the international institutions and norms that contribute to it, and consequently in global governance.22 A decline or erosion in the U.S.-led liberal order or the international institutions form part of it could set the stage for its replacement by a new or modified world 1 CRS Report R44891, U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke and Michael Moodie. 2 For more on the U.S.-led liberal international order and the concept of world order generally, see CRS Report R44891, U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke and Michael Moodie. As discussed in that report, the term international order or world order generally refers in foreign policy discussions to the collection of organizations, institutions, treaties, rules, norms, and practices that are intended to organize, structure, and regulate international relations during a given historical period. Other terms used to refer to the U.S.-led liberal international order include postwar international order, rules-based international order, and open international order. Observers sometimes substitute world for international, or omit international or world and refer simply to the liberal order, the U.S.-led order, and so on. In the terms liberal international order and liberal order, the word liberal does not refer to the conservative-liberal construct often used in discussing contemporary politics in the United States or other countries. It is, instead, an older use of the term that refers to an order based on the rule of law, as opposed to an order based on the arbitrary powers of hereditary Congressional Research Service 1 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment institutions form part of it could set the stage for its replacement by a new or modified world order reflecting changed rules, norms, and practices, or by a more disorderly world. order reflecting changed rules, norms, and practices, or by a more disorderly world.

U.S. Global Leadership and Role in the World

Some observers have focused on how, in their view, the COVID-19 pandemic is demonstrating that the United States is maintaining or reasserting its role as global leader, while other observers suggest that, in their view, the COVID-19 pandemic is demonstrating that the United States has chosen to withdraw from or is no longer capable of performing that role. The COVID-19 pandemic could influence discussions over the costs and benefits to the United States of acting as a global leader, not only with respect to global health but across a range of issues. Related to this, some observers have focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic may be illustrating the strengths or weaknesses of the Trump Administration's "’s “America First" approach to the U.S. role in the world, or the merits of the U.S. system of government and economic model as potential examples for other countries to emulate.

China' China’s Potential Role as a Global Leader

Some observers have focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic may be providing insight into whether China desires and is working to become a global leader on par with (or in the place of) the United States, whether China has a capacity for doing so, and how other countries might view China acting in such a role. China's transparency, particularly regarding its actions in the early days of its COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, as well as China's so-called donation diplomacy or mask diplomacy—meaning China's actions to send medical supplies and personnel to other countries, and the highlighting of these actions in statements from China's government and state-controlledstatecontrolled media—have become new elements of an ongoing discussion regarding China's ’s capacity or suitability for acting as a global leader. This ongoing discussion includes consideration of a range of other issues, including China's actions for implementing its Belt and Road Initiative, China's territorial disputes with other countries, its participation in international organizations, and its technology-development and international lending activities.

U.S. Relations and Great Power Competition with China and Russia

and Russia Some observers have focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic has become a significant element in U.S-China relations, and in U.S. great power competition with China and Russia, which the Trump Administration has placed at the center of its national security construct. For some observers, the COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity for U.S.-China cooperation on an important international issue of common interest. For other observers, the COVID-19 pandemic is a new source of dispute and arena of competition between the two countries, and is causing U.S.-China relations to harden more fully into a Cold War-like adversarial situation. Some observers have focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic provides a new factor in the discussion of whether the United States should decouple its economy from China's and reduce its dependence on China monarchs. Though often referred to as if it is a fully developed or universally established situation, the liberal international order, like other international orders that preceded it, is incomplete in geographic reach and in other ways; partly aspirational; not fixed in stone, but rather subject to evolution over time; sometimes violated by its supporters; not entirely free of might-makes-right behavior; resisted or rejected by certain states and non-state actors; and subject to various stresses and challenges. Congressional Research Service 2 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment for key materials and products, including hospital supplies and pharmaceuticals. Some observers have focused on whether the U.S. and Chinse responses to the COVID-19 pandemic will affect views around the world regarding the relative merits of the U.S. and Chinese forms of government and economic models as potential examples to emulate.

Democracy, Authoritarianism, and Autocracy

Related to the point above about forms of government, some observers have focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be challenging democratic systems in various countries and providing national leaders with an opportunity or rationale for taking actions to seize greater power and move their countries away from democracy and toward authoritarianism or autocracy, or strengthen or consolidate their already-existing authoritarian or autocratic forms of government.33 As discussed in another CRS report, a key element of the traditional U.S. role in the world since World War II has been to defend and promote freedom, democracy, and human rights as universal values, while criticizing and resisting authoritarian and illiberal forms of government where and when possible.4

4 Societal Tension, Reform, and Transformation, and Governmental Stability

Governmental Stability Beyond the specific point above about potential movement toward greater authoritarianism and autocracy, some observers have focused on the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic more generally could cause increased social tensions in certain countries, could lead to (or present opportunities for) societal reforms and transformations, and could destabilize and perhaps cause the downfall of governments, akin to the effects of certain past world-changing events, such as World War I.55 Such changes could alter the political orientations, national strategies, foreign policies, and defense policies of the countries in which they occur, potentially inducing follow-on effects among governments and other global actors that interact with those countries.

World Economy, Globalization, and U.S. Trade Policy

Some observers have focused on the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to significant and potentially long-lasting changes to the world economy that in turn could reshape the international security environment. Among other things, observers have focused on the possibility that the COVID-19 situation could be leading the world economy into a significant recession—an effect that could contribute to the societal tensions mentioned in the previous point. Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced world trade volumes and disrupted global supply chains, they have focused on the question of whether economic globalization will as a result be slowed, halted, or reversed. Observers are monitoring how such effects could influence 3 For additional discussion of the issue of the prevalence of democracy and authoritarian or autocratic forms of government around the world, see CRS Report R45344, Global Trends in Democracy: Background, U.S. Policy, and Issues for Congress, by Michael A. Weber. 4 See CRS Report R44891, U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke and Michael Moodie. 5 For brief discussions of the impacts of World War I on societies and governments, see, for example, Robert Wilde, “The Consequences of World War I, Political and Social Effects of the War to End All Wars,” ThoughtCo., July 10, 2019; John Horne, “The First World War: the Aftermath, The Years Following the End of the War Were Marked by More Wars, Political Upheaval and Deep Social Change,” Irish Times, April 24, 2018; Steven Mintz, “Historical Context: The Global Effect of World War I,” History Now (Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History), undated, accessed April 16, 2020; Margaret MacMillan, “World War I: The War That Changed Everything,” Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2014; Steven Erlanger, “The War to End All Wars? Hardly. But It Did Change Them Forever.” New York Times, June 26, 2020; Jay Winter, “How the Great War Shaped the World,” Atlantic, World War I issue (September 29, 2014); Kathleen Haley, “100 Years after WWI: The Lasting Impacts of the Great War,” Media, Law & Policy (Syracuse University), July 28, 2014; “Aftermath of World War I,” Wikipedia, updated April 11, 2020, accessed April 16, 2020. Congressional Research Service 3 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment recession—an effect that could contribute to the societal tensions mentioned in the previous point. Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced world trade volumes and disrupted global supply chains, they have focused on the question of whether economic globalization will as a result be slowed, halted, or reversed. Observers are monitoring how such effects could influence or be influenced by U.S. trade policy. or be influenced by U.S. trade policy.

Allied Defense Spending and U.S. Alliances

The so-called burden-sharing issue—that is, the question of whether U.S. allies are shouldering a sufficient share of the collective allied defense burden—has long been a point of contention between the United States and its allies around the globe, and it has been a matter of particular emphasis for the Trump Administration. Some observers have focused on the possibility that the costs that U.S. allies are incurring to support their economies during stay-at-home/lockdown periods will lead to offsetting reductions in their defense expenditures. Some observers argue that the NATO allies in Europe in particular may experience contractions in their defense budgets for this reason. More generally, some observers argue that if the COVID-19 pandemic causes a global recession, allied defense budgets could be further reduced—a potential impact that could affect not only NATO allies in Europe, but those in Asia as well.

European Union

European Union Some observers have additionally focused on the question of whether the COVID-19 pandemic is creating tensions among the European Union member states, particularly in connection with actions they are taking to close their national borders, and what impact the COVID-19 pandemic might ultimately have on the cohesion of the European Union.

Definition of, and Budgeting for, U.S. National Security

Some observers have focused on the question of whether the COVID-19 situation will (or should) lead to a revised definition of U.S. national security, particularly one that is less military-centric and more focused on what are sometimes called human-security-oriented challenges or global issues, such as climate change, that are currently more at the periphery of U.S. national security policy and plans. Such a change in definition could lead to a changed allocation of funding between the Department of Defense (DOD) and other government agencies that perform national-securitynationalsecurity-related tasks, a realignment of resources within DOD between combat-oriented programs and other programs (such as those related to DOD's mission of providing defense support of civil authorities), and perhaps a changed allocation of funding among the agencies other than DOD that perform national-security-related tasks.

U.S. Defense Strategy, Defense Budget, and Military Operations

Some observers have focused on the question of whether the large federal expenditures being made in response to the domestic U.S. economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact these expenditures will have on the federal budget deficit and federal debt, could lead to greater constraints in coming years on U.S. defense spending levels. As a follow-on matter, these observers are additionally focusing on the question of whether responding to such increased constraints will (or should) lead to revisions in U.S. defense strategy, changes in U.S. defense programs, and a reduction or termination of certain overseas U.S. military operations.

Congressional Research Service 4 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment U.S. Foreign Assistance and International Debt Relief

Some observers have focused on the question of whether the COVID-19 pandemic is providing a new lens through which to measure the value of U.S. foreign assistance and international debt relief in promoting U.S. interests, particularly in connection with the previously mentioned issue of whether to revise the definition of U.S. national security to make it less military-centric.

Non-state Actors

Some observers have focused on how non-state actors such as international terrorist and criminal organizations are reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic, and on how much priority should be given to countering such actors in the future, particularly in a context of a changed definition of U.S. national security.

U.S. Attention to International Issues Other than COVID-19

Some observers have focused on whether responding to the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the time and resources that U.S. leaders and agencies can devote to addressing other international issues of concern to the United States that predate but continue to exist in parallel with the COVID-19 pandemic. Administration officials have warned other countries to not take actions during the COVID-19 pandemic to challenge U.S. interests around the world or otherwise test U.S. resolve or responsiveness on the thinking that the COVID-19 pandemic is distracting U.S. officials from other concerns or reducing U.S. capacity for responding to any such challenges.

Role of Congress

At least one observer has focused on the issue of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the ability of Congress to conduct oversight of the Administration's foreign policy actions.

Further Reading

Further Reading For further reading on the issues outlined above, see the CRS reports presented in Appendix A and the additional writings presented in Appendix B.

. Potential Issues for Congress

Potential issues for Congress regarding implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for the international security environment and the U.S. role in the world include but are not limited to the following:

  • Will the COVID-19 pandemic change the international security environment, and if so, in what ways? How clearly can potential changes be anticipated?
  • How should the United States respond to potential changes in the international security environment arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects, particularly in light of uncertainty regarding the precise nature and likelihood of these changes? How might U.S. action or inaction influence or accelerate these changes?
  • What actions is the Administration developing to respond to potential changes in the international security environment arising from the COVID-19 pandemic?  Congressional Research Service 5 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment  Does Congress have sufficient visibility into these actions? Are these actions appropriate and sufficient? What metrics should Congress use to assess them?
  • What implications do potential changes in the international security environment arising from the COVID-19 pandemic have for the role of Congress in setting and overseeing the execution of U.S. foreign and defense policy? Is Congress appropriately organized for maintaining Congress as a co-equal branch of government relative to the executive branch in addressing these potential changes? If the COVID-19 pandemic becomes a world-changing event for the international security environment and the U.S. role in the world, what implications, if any, might that have for congressional organization and operations?

Appendix A. Congressional Research Service 6 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Appendix A. Related CRS Reports Related CRS Reports

CRS reports that provide more in-depth discussions of specific issues discussed in this report include the following, which are presented in alphabetical order of their titles:

Appendix B. Congressional Research Service 7 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Appendix B. Additional Writings Additional Writings

In presenting sources of additional reading, this appendix includes some examples of writings reflecting various perspectives on the potential implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the international security environment and the U.S. role in the world, organized by specific themes or topics. Within each section, the items are presented in chronological order, with the most recent on top. General/Multitopic Andrew Ehrhardt, “Disease and Diplomacy in the 19th Century,” War on the Rocks, April 30, 2019. on top.

General/Multitopic

Dmitri K. Simes, "The Perfect Storm," National Interest, April 24, 2020.

Fred Kaplan, "What Happens if Oil Doesn't Recover? If Demand Doesn't Pick Up This Summer, We Could See Major Shifts in Global Power," Slate” Slate, April 23, 2020.

Barry R. Posen, "Do Pandemics Promote Peace? Why Sickness Slows the March to War," Foreign Affairs, April 23, 2020.

Joseph Cirincione, "How to Prevent War During the Coronavirus Pandemic, How Will the Coronavirus Threaten Global Peace?" National Interest, April 22, 2020.

Frank Hoffman, "An American Perspective on Post-Pandemic Geopolitics," RUSI, April 20, 2020.

Gordon Bardos, "Will the Coronavirus Crisis Force America to Look in the Mirror and Reform?" National Interest, April 18, 2020.

Nicholas Eberstadt, "The "New Normal": Thoughts about the Shape of Things to Come in the Post-Pandemic World," National Bureau of Asian Research, April 18, 2020.

Steve Coll, "Woodrow Wilson's Case of the Flu, and How Pandemics Change History," New Yorker” New Yorker, April 17, 2020.

Jackson Diehl, "The Pandemic Is Killing Truth, Too," Washington Post, April 12, 2020.

Edith M. Lederer, "UN Chief Warns COVID-19 Threatens Global Peace and Security," Associated Press, April 10, 2020.

Stratfor Worldview, "How the Coronavirus Pandemic Is Changing the World—and the Future," National Interest, April 4, 2020.

Daniel W. Drezner, "The Most Counterintuitive Prediction about World Politics and the Coronavirus, What If Nothing Changes?" Washington Post, March 30, 2020.

Ali Demirdas, "Western Values May Not Survive the Coronavirus. European unity and American military power just haven't held up," Unity and American Military Power Just Haven’t Held Up,” National Interest, March 28, 2020.

John Allen et al., "How the World Will Look after the Coronavirus Pandemic," Foreign Policy, ” Foreign Policy, March 20, 2020. (Includes short contributions from 12 authors.)

Maxine Whittaker, "How infectious diseases have shaped our culture, habits and language," “How Infectious Diseases Have Shaped Our Culture, Habits and Language,” The Conversation, July 12, 2017.

World Order, International Institutions, and Global Governance

Yukon Huang and Jeremy Smith, "Pandemic Response Reflects Unlearned Lessons of U.S.-China Trade War,", July 12, 2017. Congressional Research Service 8 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment World Order, International Institutions, and Global Governance Rebecca Wolfe and Hilary Matfess Sunday, “COVID and Cooperation: The Latest Canary in the Coal Mine,” Lawfare, May 3, 2020. Joshua Keating, “The Decline of the Nation-State, Trump’s War with the Governors Hints at a New Political Order,” Foreign Policy, April 29, 2020. Yukon Huang and Jeremy Smith, “Pandemic Response Reflects Unlearned Lessons of U.S.-China Trade War,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 27, 2020. Mihir Sharma, “ Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 27, 2020.

Mihir Sharma, "Diplomacy Is Another Victim of the Virus," Bloomberg” Bloomberg, April 26, 2020.

Brahma Chellaney, "The WHO Has Failed the World in its Pandemic Response," Strategist ” Strategist (Australian Strategic Policy Institute), April 23, 2020.

William C. Danvers, "The World Bank steps up its role in fighting for the future," The Hill, April 22, 2020.

Eric A. Posner, "The Limits of the World Health Organization," Lawfare” Lawfare, April 21, 2020.

Amitav Acharya, "How Coronavirus May Reshape the World Order," National Interest, April 18, 2020.

Joseph S. Nye Jr., "No, the Coronavirus Will Not Change the Global Order," Foreign Policy, ” Foreign Policy, April 16, 2020.

Karen DeYoung and Liz Sly, "Global Institutions Are Flailing in the Face of the Pandemic," Washington Post, April 15, 2020.

Colin H. Kahl and Ariana Berengaut, "Aftershocks: The Coronavirus Pandemic and the New World Disorder," War on the Rocks, April 10, 2020.

Lanhee J. Chen, "Lost in Beijing: The Story of the WHO, China Broke the World Health Organization. The U.S. Has to Fix It or Leave and Start Its Own Group," Wall Street Journal, , April 8, 2020.

Colum Lynch, "Can the United Nations Survive the Coronavirus? In the Absence of U.S. Leadership, the U.N. Is Struggling to Carve Out a Role in the Face of What May Be the Greatest Threat Since Its Founding," Foreign Policy, April 8, 2020.

Timofey V. Bordachev, "Visions Of The Post-Coronavirus World: Russian Expert On Europe Bordachev: The Liberal World Order Will Not Survive," MEMRI, April 6, 2020.

Matthew Lee and Edith M. Lederer, "Global Diplomacy Under the Gun in The Time of Ccoronavirus," Associated Press, April 4, 2020.

Thomas Wright, "Stretching the International Order to Its Breaking Point, The Greatest Error That Geopolitical Analysts Can Make May Be Believing That the Crisis Will Be Over in Three to Four Months," Atlantic” Atlantic, April 4, 2020.

Henry A. Kissinger, "The Coronavirus Pandemic Will Forever Alter the World Order," Wall Street Journal” Wall Street Journal, April 3, 2020.

Ryan Broderick, "After The Coronavirus Passes, Your World Will Not Go Back To Normal, Before the Pandemic Began, the Systems That Govern Our World Were Brittle. Today, They Are Broken. When We Emerge, the World Will Be Different, and So Will We," Buzzfeed News, April 2, 2020.

Rick Gladstone, "U.N. Security Council 'Missing In Action' in Coronavirus Fight," New York Times Congressional Research Service 9 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Rick Gladstone, “U.N. Security Council ‘Missing In Action’ in Coronavirus Fight,” New York Times, April 2, 2020. , April 2, 2020.

Ian Goldin and Robert Muggah, "End of International Cooperation? How Coronavirus Has Changed the World Permanently," National Interest, March 31, 2020.

U.S. Global Leadership and Role in World

J. Stephen Morrison and Anna Carroll, "WHO and President Trump on the Ledge," Center for Anne Applebaum, “The Rest of the World Is Laughing at Trump, The President Created a Leadership Vacuum. China Intends to Fill It,” Atlantic, May 3, 2020. Charlotte Klein, “Trump’s ‘America First’ Mentality May Hamper Global Race For Coronavirus Vaccine,” Vanity Fair, May 3, 2020. Nahal Toosi and Natasha Bertrand, “Fears Rise that Trump Will Incite a Global Vaccine Brawl, The President’s ‘America First’ Philosophy Courts Disaster for Entire Regions of the World, Diplomats Warn,” Politico, May 3, 2020. Kori Schake, “America’s Built-in Protection Against Bad Leadership, For All Its Failures, the U.S. Has Structural Advantages Over Rival Powers—and Will Come Out of the Pandemic Even Stronger,” Atlantic, May 1, 2020. Colum Lynch, “WHO Becomes Battleground as Trump Chooses Pandemic Confrontation Over Cooperation,” Foreign Policy, April 29, 2020. J. Stephen Morrison and Anna Carroll, “WHO and President Trump on the Ledge,” Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), April 28, 2020. Jeffrey Becker, “Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), April 28, 2020.

Jeffrey Becker, "COVID-19 Offers a Golden Opportunity to Reengage with the Indo-Pacific," Defense One, April 27, 2020.

Joseph S. Nye, "How COVID-19 Is Testing American Leadership," East Asia Forum, April 26, 2020.

By John Hudson, Josh Dawsey, and Souad Mekhennet, "Trump Expands Battle with WHO Far Beyond Aid Suspension," Washington Post, April 25, 2020.

Katrin Bennhold, "'Sadness'“‘Sadness’ and Disbelief From a World Missing American Leadership," New ” New York Times, April 23, 2020.

David Brunnstrom and Humeyra Pamuk, "Pompeo Says U.S. May Never Restore WHO Funds after Cutoff over Pandemic," Reuters” Reuters, April 23, 2020.

Julianne Smith and Garima Mohan, "In a Crisis, a Fumbling America Confirms Europe's Worst Fears," War on the Rocks, April 23, 2020.

Luke Allen, "Why Trump Defunded the WHO," National Interest, April 20, 2020.

Yu-Jie Chen and Jerome A. Cohen, "Trump Is Right That the WHO Has a China Problem. Cutting Funding Isn't the Answer," Diplomat” Diplomat, April 20, 2020.

Jeffrey Cimmino, "Trump Should Be Tough On the WHO – And Recommit to Strengthening Global Health Security," National Interest, April 19, 2020.

Brett D. Schaefer, "The World Health Organization Messed Up—But Don't Defund Them," National Interest, April 16, 2020.

Salvatore Babones, "Donald Trump Is Right To Dump the WHO," National Interest, April 15, 2020.

Kevin Baron, "Don't Be Fooled. Trump's Cuts to WHO Aren't About the Coronavirus," Defense One Congressional Research Service 10 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Kevin Baron, “Don’t Be Fooled. Trump’s Cuts to WHO Aren’t About the Coronavirus,” Defense One, April 15, 2020. , April 15, 2020.

Bonnie Kristian, "The Coronavirus Shows How US 'Diplomacy'‘Diplomacy’ Is Anything But, Absolutist, America-First Approaches Isolate Us and Make Us Less Safe," Defense One, April 15, 2020.

Eli Lake, "Trump Is Punishing the WHO for China's Deceptions," Bloomberg” Bloomberg, April 15, 2020.

Thomas R. Pickering and Atman Trivedi, "America First? The Coronavirus Couldn't Care Less," Foreign Policy, April 15, 2020.

Emily Rauhala, "Trump'“Trump’s Critique of WHO May Be a Diversion, But It Resonates Beyond the White House," Washington Post, April 15, 2020.

Steve Holland, "Trump to Convene G7 Leaders in Video Call to Discuss Pandemic," Reuters, ” Reuters, April 14, 2020.

Fred Kaplan, "The End of American Leadership, The Coronavirus Pandemic May Mark the Final Shift of Global Power Away from the United States," Slate” Slate, April 13, 2020.

Michael Shoebridge, "Why America Will Emerge Stronger From the Coronavirus Crisis," National Interest, April 12, 2020.

Bill Ong Hing, "Trump Has Achieved His Goal of Abolishing Asylum, The Pandemic Has Added One More Insurmountable Hurdle for Asylum Seekers," Slate” Slate, April 10, 2020.

Michèle A. Flournoy and Lisa O. Monaco, "Now'“Now’s Not the Time for Isolationism, Countries Need to Work Together to Fight Coronavirus, and the U.S. Should Step Up to Lead Those Efforts, Not Back Off From Them," Politico” Politico, April 8, 2020.

Todd Prince, "Pompeo Touts U.S. Foreign Help Against Pandemic As Trump Threatens WHO Funding," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, April 8, 2020.

Joe Buccino, "The US Must Lead the World Out of This, If the Coronavirus Pandemic Only Causes Us to Look Inward, China Wins," Defense One, April 7, 2020.

Helle C. Dale, "Even in Pandemic, America Still the Global Leader," Heritage Foundation, April 7, 2020.

John Pomfret, "Does the Future Still Belong to the U.S. and China?" Washington Post, April 7, 2020.

Robert B. Zoellick, "The World Is Watching How America Handles Coronavirus, The Trump Administration Has Failed to Convey An Impression of Strong International Leadership," Wall ” Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2020.

Ted Anthony, "After Virus, How Will Americans' View of the World Change?" Washington Post, ” Washington Post, April 6, 2020.

William J. Burns, "A Make-or-Break Test for American Diplomacy, The Post-Pandemic World Will Pose a Massive Test for U.S. Statecraft, the Biggest Since the End of the Cold War," Atlantic” Atlantic, April 6, 2020.

Victor Davis Hanson, "Don'“Don’t Be Fooled: Trump Is Leading the World Against Coronavirus," National Interest, April 5, 2020.

Lara Jakes, "When the Face of America Falls Ill: A Virus's Toll on Diplomats," New York Times, , April 4, 2020.

Nahal Toosi, "' Congressional Research Service 11 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Nahal Toosi, “‘Lord of the Flies: PPE Edition': U.S. Cast As Culprit in Global Scrum Over Coronavirus Supplies," Politico” Politico, April 3, 2020.

Stephen M. Walt, "The United States Can Still Win the Coronavirus Pandemic," Foreign Policy, ” Foreign Policy, April 3, 2020.

Susan B. Glasser, "The Coronavirus Is the World's Only Superpower, Trump's America? Not so Much," New Yorker, April 2, 2020.

Robbie Gramer and Colum Lynch, "In Global Leadership Void on Pandemic, Critics Ask: Where' Where’s Pompeo?" Foreign Policy, April 2, 2020.

Ash Jain, "Trump Just Missed a Perfect Opportunity to Reassert American Leadership, The G-20 helped beat Ebola. Why can't it do the same for the coronavirus?" Foreign Policy, April 2, 2020.

Adam Tooze, "America Is Ailing—and Leading the World, The Coronavirus Pandemic Has Been a Humiliation for the United States—and Confirmation of Its Unmatched International Power," Foreign Policy, April 1, 2020.

Robert C. Rubel, "Canary In The Coal Mine: The US Navy's Dilemmas As An Indication Of A Culminating Point In National Grand Strategy," Journal of Political Risk, April 2020.

Doug Bandow, "Donald Trump Needs to Focus on Coronavirus (Not Fighting with China and the EU)," National Interest, March 30, 2020.

Walter Russell Mead, "U.S. Leadership Will Survive Coronavirus," Wall Street Journal, March 30, 2020.

Michael Rubin, "Washington Post's’s Broadside against Mike Pompeo Is Wildly Unfair," Washington Examiner, March 30, 2020. (Responds to the March 29, 2020, writing below by Jackson Diehl.)

Jeff M. Smith, "How America Is Leading the 'Quad Plus' Group of Seven Countries in Fighting the Coronavirus," National Interest, March 30, 2020.

Jackson Diehl, "Pompeo'“Pompeo’s Pandemic Performance Ensures His Place Among the Worst Secretaries of State Ever," Washington Post, March 29, 2020. (For a response, see the March 30, 2020, writing above by Michael Rubin.)

Brett McGurk, "America Should Build an International Coalition Now; The United States Has an Urgent Interest in Filling the Global Leadership Void During This Stateless Scourge," Atlantic, ” Atlantic, March 29, 2020.

Ted Galen Carpenter, "Donald Trump Offered to Help North Korea on Coronavirus. Why Not Iran?" National Interest, March 27, 2020.

Paul R. Pillar, "Donald Trump's Nationalist Response to the Coronavirus," National Interest, ” National Interest, March 26, 2020.

Kevin Baron, "Trump Could Have Led the World Against the Coronavirus," Defense One, March 25, 2020.

Editorial Board, "The Coronavirus Pandemic May Mark a Decline in U.S. Leadership," Washington Post, March 23, 2020.

Stephen M. Walt, "The Death of American Competence, Washington's Reputation for Expertise Has Been One of the Greatest Sources of Its Power. The Coronavirus Pandemic May End It for Good," Foreign Policy, March 23, 2020.

Congressional Research Service 12 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Ronald E. Neumann and Marc Grossman, "More US Diplomats Need to Be Overseas to Best Serve America," The Hill, March 22, 2020.

Steven Erlanger, "Another Virus Victim: The U.S. as a Global Leader in a Time of Crisis," New ” New York Times, March 20 (updated March 22), 2020.

Kori Schake, "The Damage That 'America First' Has Done," Atlantic” Atlantic, March 20, 2020.

Daniel B. Baer, "The Virus Has Exposed the Recklessness of Trump's '’s ‘America First,'" Foreign Policy’” Foreign Policy, March 18, 2020.

China' China’s Potential Role as a Global Leader

William Brent, "Generosity Is an Easy Win for China After the Coronavirus Pandemic," Foreign Policy “Exclusive: Internal Chinese Report Warns Beijing Faces Tiananmen-like Global Backlash Over Virus,” Reuters, May 4, 2020. (This article does not list an author.) Steven Erlanger, “Global Backlash Builds Against China Over Coronavirus,” New York Times, May 3, 2020. Lara Marlowe, “Europe’s Relationship with China Is Now One of Mistrust and Hostility,” Irish Times, May 2, 2020. Joel Gehrke, “US Allies Move Toward Trump, Demanding Coronavirus Investigation Despite Chinese Threats,” Washington Examiner, May 1, 2020. Minxin Pei, “China's Expensive Bet on Africa Has Failed, Coronavirus Crash in Commodity Prices Has Wasted $200 Billion in Investment and Loans,” Nikkei Asian Review, May 1, 2020. Matt Apuzzo, “Top E.U. Diplomat Says Disinformation Report Was Not Watered Down for China,” New York Times, April 30, 2020. James Griffiths, “China’s Model of Control Has Been Blamed for the Coronavirus Crisis, But for Some It’s Looking Increasingly Attractive,” CNN, April 29, 2020. Tanvi Madan et al., “China’s Neighbors Face a Belligerent Post-Pandemic Beijing, Experts Discuss the Regional Fallout of the Coronavirus Crisis,” Foreign Policy, April 29, 2020. William Brent, “Generosity Is an Easy Win for China After the Coronavirus Pandemic,” Foreign Policy, April 28, 2020. Damien Cave and Amy Qin, “China Mounts Aggressive Defense to Calls for Coronavirus Compensation,” New York Times, April 28, 2020. , April 28, 2020.

Mark Magnier, "China Is Overreaching in Bid for Greater Global Influence Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, US Advisers Say," South China Morning Post, April 28, 2020.

Shi Jiangtao, "Coronavirus: They're Only Answering Xi Jinping's Call but Are China's 'Wolf Warrior'’s ‘Wolf Warrior’ Diplomats Doing More Harm than Good?" South China Morning Post, April 27, 2020.

Richard Javad Heydarian, "The Coming China Backlash, There Is a Pent-up Volcano of Rage Against the Chinese Regime for Its Reckless Coverup of a Devouring Pandemic," National Interest Interest, April 25, 2020.

Keith B. Richburg, "After Coronavirus, China's Relations With the World Will Never Be the Same," National Interest, April 25, 2020.

Jerry Dunleavy, "'“‘Xi Jinping's Chernobyl': Experts Say Chinese Disinformation Aims to Distract World from Coronavirus Failures," Washington Examiner, April 23, 2020.

David Ignatius, " Congressional Research Service 13 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment David Ignatius, “The World Will Demand Answers on COVID-19 Until China Explains What Happened," Washington Post, April 23, 2020.

Veerle Nouwens, "China and the Coronavirus Pandemic: Internal Doubts, External Mistakes," RUSI, April 23, 2020.

Austin Bay, "On Point: The COVID-19 Debacle Previews the Chinese Communist Party's ’s Imperial World Order," Strategy Page, April 22, 2020.

Frederic Puglie, "China to the Rescue: 'Mask Diplomacy' Aims to Win Allies in Latin America," Washington Times, April 22, 2020.

Robert A. Manning, "Why China Will Be the Biggest COVID-19 Loser," The Hill, April 21, 2020.

Daniel R. DePetris, "China'“China’s Great Pandemic Gamble," National Interest, April 20, 2020.

Charles Dunst, "Beijing'“Beijing’s Propaganda Is Finding Few Takers," Foreign Policy, April 20, 2020.

Jamil Anderlini, "Why China is Losing the Coronavirus Narrative," Financial Times, April 19, 2020.

Steven Lee Myers, "China'“China’s Aggressive Diplomacy Weakens Xi Jinping's Global Standing," New ” New York Times, April 17 (updated April 20), 2020.

Maria Repnikova, "Does China's Propaganda Work? The Communist Party's Messaging Is Both More Agile and More Fragile Than It Seems," New York Times, April 16, 2020.

Charles Dunst, "How China's Mask Diplomacy Backfired," American Interest, April 15, 2020.

Michael Green and Evan S. Medeiros, "The Pandemic Won't Make China the World's Leader, Few Countries Are Buying the Model or the Message From Beijing," Foreign Affairs, April 15, 2020.

Gerry Shih, "China'“China’s Bid to Repair Its Coronavirus-hit Image Is Backfiring in the West," Washington Post, April 14, 2020.

Dusan Stojanovic, "China's '“China’s ‘Mask Diplomacy' Wins Support in Eastern Europe," Associated ” Associated Press, April 14, 2020.

Mohammed Ayoob, "How the Coronavirus Could Undercut China's Global Standing," National Interest” National Interest, April 13, 2020.

Chi Wang, "How China Is Losing the World's Trust Following Its Cover-up of the Coronavirus Crisis," South China Morning Post, April 13, 2020.

Nick Crawford and David Gordon, "China Confronts Major Risk of Debt Crisis on the Belt and Road Due to Pandemic," Diplomat” Diplomat, April 10, 2020.

John Pomfret, "Does the Future Still Belong to the U.S. and China?" Washington Post, April 7, 2020.

Plamen Tonchev, "The Belt and Road After COVID-19," Diplomat” Diplomat, April 7, 2020.

Bradley A. Thayer and Lianchao Han, "The Consequences of the Pandemic for China and the World," National Interest, April 4, 2020.

Edward Lucas, "China Was Once the Cradle of the Coronavirus Pandemic But It Has Bounced Back with Astonishing Speed, Writes Edward Lucas As He Reveals the Country May Have Won the War for Global Supremacy As Well," Daily Mail (UK), April 3, 2020.

Congressional Research Service 14 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Philip Wen and Drew Hinshaw, "China Asserts Claim to Global Leadership, Mask by Mask," Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2020.

Zack Beauchamp, "The Myth of Authoritarian Coronavirus Supremacy," Vox” Vox, March 26, 2020.

Mark Hannah, "Will America's Coronavirus Response Inspire Countries to Follow China's Model?" ’s Model?” National Interest, March 24, 2020.

Dan Blumenthal, "Donald Trump's China Problem Has Arrived," National Interest, March 23, 2020.

Azeem Ibrahim, "China'“China’s Debt Diplomacy Will Get a Coronavirus Boost," Foreign Policy, ” Foreign Policy, March 23, 2020.

Yang Jiang, "China'“China’s Moment of Vindication," Danish Institute for International Studies, March 20, 2020.

Morten Soendergaard Larsen and Robbie Gramer, "China Casts Itself as Global Savior While U.S. and EU Focus on Virus at Home," Foreign Policy, March 19, 2020.

Bradley A. Thayer and Lianchao Han, "China'“China’s Coronavirus Plan: Create a 'Silk Road' of Health Care Leading Towards World Dominance," National Interest, March 19, 2020.

Alan Crawford and Peter Martin, "China Showers Europe With Virus Aid While Sparring With Trump,” BloombergTrump," Bloomberg, March 19, 2020.

U.S. Relations and Great Power Competition with China and Russia

Kinling Lo and Sarah Zheng, "Who Is Winning the China-US Race to Run the World Amid the Covid-19 pandemic?" Russia David Wertime, “‘Not the World’s Number One’: Chinese Social Media Piles On the U.S.,” Politico, May 4, 2020. John Lee, “US-China Economic Distancing in the Era of Great Power Rivalry and COVID-19,” United States Studies Centre, May 4, 2020. Humeyra Pamuk and Andrea Shalal, “Trump Administration Pushing to Rip Global Supply Chains from China: Officials,” Reuters, May 4, 2020. David Wertime, “‘Not the World’s Number One’: Chinese Social Media Piles On the U.S.,” Politico, May 4, 2020. Claudia Rosett, “China Is Exploiting the Coronavirus Chaos to Advance Its Agenda, President Xi Wants China at the Center of a New Global Order,” Dallas Morning News, May 3, 2020. Walter Lohman James Jay Carafano, “Here Are Ten Ways To Beat China Over Coronavirus,” National Interest, May 2, 2020. Ahmed Charai, “How COVID-19 Changes Trump’s China Card,” National Interest, May 1, 2020. Bonnie Kristian, “‘Maximum Pressure’ on China Is No Solution to a Pandemic,” Defense News, May 1, 2020. Dalibor Rohac, “The Kremlin’s Tried-and-True Formula for Tough Times: Look for Enemies Abroad,” Washington Post, May 1, 2020. Alex Ward, “Pressure Mounts on Trump to ‘Drop the Hammer’ on China,” Vox, May 1, 2020. Edward Wong and Ana Swanson, “Some Trump Officials Take Harder Actions on China During Pandemic,” New York Times, May 1, 2020. Congressional Research Service 15 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Joseph Bosco, “The Post-Pandemic New Order in US-China Relations,” The Hill, April 30, 2020. Chuck DeVore, “In a Bid to Weaken America, China Extends a Hand to the States | Opinion,” Newsweek, April 30, 2020. Editorial Board, “China has turned to bullying to avoid accountability. It may be working on Europe,” Washington Post, April 30, 2020. Mathew Ha and Alice Cho, “China’s Coronavirus Disinformation Campaigns Are Integral to Its Global Information Warfare Strategy,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies, April 30, 2020. Jeff Stein, Carol D. Leonnig, Josh Dawsey, and Gerry Shih, “U.S. Officials Crafting Retaliatory Actions Against China Over Coronavirus as President Trump Fumes,” Washington Post, April 30, 2020. Peter B. Walker, “Shift in Mindset Needed So US Can Work with China to Tackle Coronavirus Pandemic and Other Global Issues,” South China Morning Post, April 30, 2020. Joyu Wang and Rachel Yeo, “China Takes Harder Line on Hong Kong Amid Coronavirus Protest Lull,” Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2020. George Barros, Nataliya Bugayova, and Mason Clark, “Russia in Review: Kremlin Misdirection Continues Amid COVID and Peace Processes,” Institute for the Study of War, April 29, 2020. Alan Boyd, “China Drops a Covid-19 Gauntlet on Australia,” Asia Times, April 29, 2020. Lewis Libbby,, “To Confront China After Coronavirus, We Must See the Bigger Picture,” National Review, April 29, 2020. Kinling Lo and Sarah Zheng, “Who Is Winning the China-US Race to Run the World Amid the Covid-19 pandemic?” South China Morning Post, April 29, 2020.

Damien Cave and Amy Qin, " Clifford D. May, “How our enemies are handling the pandemic, They’re Staying Focused on Their Missions and Doing Just Fine,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies, April 29, 2020. Fu Ying, “Fu Ying on Why China and America Must Co-operate to Defeat COVID-19,” Economist, April 29, 2020. Damien Cave and Amy Qin, “China Mounts Aggressive Defense to Calls for Coronavirus Compensation," New York Times, April 28, 2020.

Alex Ward, "How China Is Ruthlessly Exploiting the Coronavirus Pandemic It Helped Cause," Vox” Vox, April 28, 2020.

Shi Jiangtao, "Coronavirus infects China-US relations as blame game over pandemic intensifies," South China Morning Post, April 27, 2020.

Emily Rauhala, "Trump'“Trump’s WHO Funding Freeze During Coronavirus Pandemic Gives China an Opening to Expand Its Influence," Washington Post, April 27, 2020.

Patrick Mendis and Dominique Reichenbach, "Will the Trump White House Make China Great Again in a Post-Pandemic Era?" National Interest, April 27, 2020.

James Traub, "The Future Is Asian—but Not Chinese, A Post-pandemic Cold War Is Developing between the United States and China—but Both Sides Are Losing the Ideological Fight," Foreign Policy” Foreign Policy, April 27, 2020.

Eric Farnsworth, "China'“China’s Coronavirus Play in the Americas," National Interest, April 26, 2020.

Yasmeen Serhan and Kathy Gilsinan, "Can the West Actually Ditch China?" Atlantic, April 24, 2020.

Congressional Research Service 16 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Javed Ali and A'ndre Ggonawela, "Dueling COVID-19 Blame Narratives Deepen US-China Rift," The Hill, April 23, 2020.

Alexander Gabuev, "The Pandemic Could Tighten China's Grip on Eurasia," Foreign Policy, ” Foreign Policy, April 23, 2020.

Ralph Peters, "China Lies, China Kills, China Wins," Hoover Institution, April 23, 2020.

Josh Rogin, "The Coronavirus Crisis Shows the Risks of Scientific Collaboration with China," Washington Post, April 23, 2020.

Peter Suciu, "Are America and China Headed Towards a South China Sea Showdown? Is Beijing Trying to Push Forward on Its Maritime Claims While the World is Battling Coronavirus?" National Interest, April 23, 2020.

John Vandiver, "Coronavirus Pandemic Leads to Spike in Disinformation Directed at US, NATO in Europe," Stars and Stripes, April 23, 2020.

Hal Brands, "Modest Multilateralism Is in America's Interest—and China's Too, The Crisis Has Highlighted the Need for More Global Cooperation, but Let's Not Get Carried Away," Bloomberg” Bloomberg, April 22, 2020.

James Green, "China and the United States Are Both Losing the Blame Game," Foreign Policy, ” Foreign Policy, April 22, 2020.

Laura Rosenberger, "China'“China’s Coronavirus Information Offensive, Beijing Is Using New Methods to Spin the Pandemic to Its Advantage," Foreign Affairs, April 22, 2020.

Edward Wong, Matthew Rosenberg, and Julian E. Barnes, "Chinese Agents Helped Spread Messages That Sowed Virus Panic in U.S., Officials Say," New York Times, April 22, 2020.

Dean Cheng, "China, COVID-19 and 5G; Golden Opportunity For The West," Breaking Defense, ” Breaking Defense, April 21, 2020.

Gregory R. Copley, "China Is Waging A New Kind Of War Against The U.S.," Oil Price, April 21, 2020.

Alan Crawford and Peter Martin, "China'“China’s Coronavirus Diplomacy Has Finally Pushed Europe Too Far," Bloomberg” Bloomberg, April 21, 2020.

Jessica Donati, "U.S. Adversaries Are Accelerating, Coordinating Coronavirus Disinformation, Report Says," Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2020.

John Grady, "COVID-19 Pandemic Giving China a Firmer Foothold in Europe," USNI News, ” USNI News, April 21, 2020.

Hollie McKay, "China Ups Its Spy Game on US Soil as It Bids to Control Coronavirus Narrative," Fox News, April 21, 2020.

Hannah Roberts, "Moscow'“Moscow’s Coronavirus Offensive," Politico” Politico, April 21, 2020.

Betsy Woodruff Swan, "State Report: Russian, Chinese, and Iranian Disinformation Narratives Echoing Each Other," Politico Pro, April 21, 2020.

Yew Lun Tian, Ben Blanchard, "China Rattles Sabres as World Battles Coronavirus Pandemic," Reuters” Reuters, April 21, 2020.

Riley Walters and Dean Cheng, "How to Hold China Accountable for COVID-19," Heritage Foundation, April 21, 2020.

Congressional Research Service 17 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Tim Ahmann, David Brunnstrom, and Julie Steenhuysen, "Update 1-China May Be Keeping Coronavirus Data for Commercial Gain—Trump Adviser," Reuters” Reuters, April 20, 2020.

James Jay Carafano, "The Great U.S.-China Divorce Has Arrived," National Interest, April 20, 2020.

Charles Lane, "This Crisis Has Taught Us the True Cost of Doing Business with China," Washington Post, April 20, 2020.

Klaus W. Larres, "China Turns on the Charm and Angers Trump as it Eyes a Global Opportunity in Coronavirus Crisis," The Conversation, April 20, 2020.

John Lee, "Beijing Still Has a Way to Go in Battle for Power," United States Studies Centre, April 20, 2020.

Bradley A. Thayer and Lianchao Han, "Kissinger'“Kissinger’s Folly: The Threat to World Order is China," The Hill, April 19, 2020.

Ashley Townshend and Matilda Steward, "Coronavirus Crisis Shows Both China and the US Aren' Aren’t Equipped to Lead the World," United States Studies Centre, April 19, 2020.

James Holmes, "How Donald Trump Should Make China Pay for Coronavirus," National Interest” National Interest, April 18, 2020.

Cleo Paskal, "World Tries to Shake Off Its Dangerous China Addiction," Sunday Guardian, April 18, 2020.

Daniel P. Vajdich, "The Geopolitical Cost of Battling the Coronavirus Separately (China Will Win)," National Interest, April 18, 2020.

Robbie Gramer, "NATO Chief Rebukes China Over Coronavirus Disinformation," Foreign ” Foreign Policy, April 17, 2020.

Jeffery A. Green, "Stop China's Predatory Investments Before the US Becomes Its Next Victim," Defense News, April 17, 2020.

Fred Kaplan, "The China Problem, The Chinese Government Bears Some Responsibility for the Pandemic, But We Still Need Its Help to Fight the Virus," Slate” Slate, April 17, 2020.

Abraham Denmark, Charles Edel, and Siddharth Mohandas, "Same as It Ever Was: China's ’s Pandemic Opportunism on Its Periphery," War on the Rocks, April 16, 2020.

"Is China winning? The geopolitical consequences of covid-19 will be subtle, but unfortunate," Economist” Economist, April 16, 2020. (This article does not list an author.)

Elisabeth Braw, "China Is Bargain Hunting—and Western Security Is at Risk, Beijing Could Use the Coronavirus-Induced Economic Crisis to Go on a Buying Spree. The U.S. and European Governments Must Restrict the Purchasing of Distressed Companies in Sensitive Sectors," Foreign Policy, April 15, 2020.

Kristine Lee, "It'“It’s Not Just the WHO: How China Is Moving on the Whole U.N., Despite His Saber-Rattling, Trump's Pullback Actually Helps Beijing in its New, Inside-Baseball Strategy to Build Influence," Politico” Politico, April 15, 2020.

James Palmer, "Why Chinese Embassies Have Embraced Aggressive Diplomacy, Beijing Is Trying to Maintain Its Narrative as Diplomats Spread Misinformation About the Rest of the World' World’s Coronavirus response," Foreign Policy, April 15, 2020.

Salvatore Babones, " Congressional Research Service 18 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Salvatore Babones, “In the Post-Coronavirus World, Chinese Power is Overrated, A Global Resurgence in National Self-Reliance Might Actually Be a Good Thing for America's Place in the World," Foreign Policy, April 14, 2020.

Martijn Rasser, "Technology Alliances Will Help Shape Our Post-Pandemic future," C4ISRnet, ” C4ISRnet, April 14, 2020.

John Lee Cheong Seong, "Beijing Tried to Use the Coronavirus Crisis to Enhance Its Global Standing. It's not working; Despite American Errors and Poor Leadership, the Pandemic Only Proves That the Foundations of Underlying Strength Are Still Solid for the United States and Fragile for China," South China Morning PostPost, April 14, 2020.

Brian Whitmore, "Quarantining Sanctions, A Kremlin Diplomatic Gambit Exploits the Pandemic," Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), April 14, 2020.

Edward Wong and Paul Mozur, "China's '“China’s ‘Donation Diplomacy' Raises Tensions With U.S.," New ” New York Times, April 14, 2020.

Jack Detsch, "U.S. Official: Beware of Chinese Leaders Bearing Coronavirus Gifts," Foreign Policy” Foreign Policy, April 13, 2020.

Grant Newsham, "America Takes On The Coronavirus: Is Chinese Help Needed?" And Magazine” And Magazine, April 13, 2020.

Isabelle Khurshudyan, "Russia'“Russia’s State-backed Media Uses the Pandemic to Spin Anti-Western Views. They Are Not Alone," Washington Post, April 12, 2020.

Chen Yun-yu and Emerson Lim, "U.S., China Stepping Up Military Messaging Amid Pandemic: Analysts," Focus Taiwan, April 12, 2020.

Renée DiResta, "For China, the 'USA Virus' Is a Geopolitical Ploy," Atlantic” Atlantic, April 11, 2020.

Lee Drake, "What the Trump Administration Needs to Learn from the Plague that Destroyed Athens," National Interest, April 11, 2020.

Bradley A. Thayer Lianchao Han, "China Is Using The Coronavirus Crisis To Gain Political Capital Against America," National Interest, April 11, 2020.

Bradley A. Thayer Lianchao Han, "China'“China’s Coronavirus Weapon: How Beijing Plans to Leverage the Global Supply Chain," National Interest, April 11, 2020.

Philip Citowicki, "COVID-19 Escalates the China-Australia Contest in the Pacific," Diplomat, ” Diplomat, April 10, 2020.

Catie Edmondson, "China Hawks in Congress See an Opportunity in Coronavirus," New York Times” New York Times, April 10 (updated April 14), 2020.

Ryan Girdusky, "Bad Ideology, Not Bad Leadership, Caused Our China Problem," Washington ” Washington Examiner, April 9, 2020.

Alireza Ahmadi, "The Trump Era Has Created a New Challenge for China," National Interest, ” National Interest, April 8, 2020.

Keith B. Alexander and Jamil N. Jaffer, "While the World Battles the Coronavirus, Our Adversaries Are Planning Their Next Attack," The Hill, April 7 2020.

James Kraska and Sumantra Maitra, "The Coronavirus Crisis Has Highlighted America's Failed Foreign Policy Tactics," National Interest, April 7, 2020.

Plamen Tonchev, " Congressional Research Service 19 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Plamen Tonchev, “The Belt and Road After COVID-19, Possible Post-pandemic Scenarios for China' China’s Long-term Foreign Policy Strategy," Diplomat, April 7, 2020.

Mark Payumo, "Why China's Coronavirus Lies Don't Matter If It Plays the Long Information Game, Washington Can Still Beat Beijing's Information Warfare Campaign, But It Needs to Stop Thinking Short-Term," National Interest, April 6, 2020.

Nadia Schadlow, "Consider the Possibility That Trump Is Right About China, Critics Are Letting Their Disdain for the President Blind Them to Geopolitical Realities," Atlantic” Atlantic, April 5, 2020.

Anthony Vinci and Nadia Schadlow, "Time for the US to Declare Independence from China," Washington Examiner, April 5, 2020.

Madeleine Albright et al., "Saving Lives in America, China, and Around the World," Asia Society, April 3, 2020.

Emma Ashford and Matthew Kroenig," Will Trump's Pandemic Response Help or Harm U.S. Power? Russia and China Are Stepping in While the United States and Europe Fumble," Foreign Policy” Foreign Policy, April 3, 2020.

James Jay Carafano, "America'“America’s Post-Coronavirus China Syndrome," National Interest, April 1, 2020.

Matthew Kroenig, "Why the U.S. Will Outcompete China, The Faith in Autocratic Ascendance and Democratic Decline Is Contrary to Historical Fact," Atlantic” Atlantic, April 3, 2020.

Bruno Maçães, "China Wants to Use the Coronavirus to Take Over the World," National Review, ” National Review, April 3, 2020.

Minxin Pei, "China'“China’s Coming Upheaval, Competition, the Coronavirus, and the Weakness of Xi Jinping," Foreign Affairs, April 3, 2020.

Riley Walters, "Decreasing U.S.-China Trade Is Worrisome," Heritage Foundation, April 3, 2020.

Tom O'Connor and Naveed Jamali, "As U.S. Struggles to Fight Coronavirus, China, Russia See Opportunity to Gain Global Power," Newsweek” Newsweek, April 1, 2020.

Matthew Petti, "Pompeo: China Will Be 'True Strategic Competitor' After Coronavirus," National Interest, April 1, 2020.

Ali Wyne, "Why China and the U.S. Can't Cooperate to Fight Coronavirus," Washington Post, ” Washington Post, March 26, 2020.

Peter Rough, "How China is Exploiting the Coronavirus to Weaken Democracies," Foreign Policy” Foreign Policy, March 25, 2020.

James Jay Carafano, "Great Power Competition After the Coronavirus Crisis: What Should America Do?" National Interest, March 24, 2020.

Paul Haenle and Lucas Tcheyan, "U.S.-China Cooperation on Coronavirus Hampered by Propaganda War," Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 24, 2020.

Jonathan Marcus, "Coronavirus: US-China Battle Behind the Scenes," BBC News, March 24, 2020.

Mira Rapp-Hooper, "China, America, and the International Order After the Pandemic," War on the Rocks, March 24, 2020.

Doug Bandow, "A War of Words With China Helps Nobody," Foreign Policy, March 23, 2020.

Elisabeth Braw, "As the West Panics, Putin Is Watching," Foreign Policy, March 23, 2020.

Congressional Research Service 20 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Emily de La Bruyere and Nathan Picarsic, "Competition Meets Crisis: China's Perverse Opportunity and a Strategic Response," National Interest, March 23, 2020.

Matthew Kroenig, "Pandemics Can Fast Forward the Rise and Fall of Great Powers," National Interest” National Interest, March 23, 2020.

Stephen S. Roach and Daniel J. Arbess, "US Lives and Economic Stability Are Threatened by Coronavirus Conflict with China," The Hill, March 23, 2020.

Gordon G. Chang, "Donald Trump Can't Cooperate with China on Coronavirus," National Interest” National Interest, March 22, 2020.

Michael Crowley, Edward Wong, and Lara Jakes, "Coronavirus Drives the U.S. and China Deeper Into Global Power Struggle," New York Times, March 22, 2020.

Richard Fontaine, "Virus Competition Is Wrecking China-U.S. Cooperation Hopes, Coronavirus Efforts Are A New Battlefront—and Beijing Is the Only One in the Game," Foreign Policy, ” Foreign Policy, March 20, 2020.

James Holmes, "Beware of Pandemic America, Note to China and Russia: Despite Appearances, the Time of Coronavirus May Not Be an Opportune Time for You to Chisel Away at America's ’s Global Standing," National Interest, March 20, 2020.

Suzanne Nossel, "China Is Fighting the Coronavirus Propaganda War to Win," Foreign Policy, ” Foreign Policy, March 20, 2020.

Katie Bo Williams, "US-China Tensions Heat Up As Beijing Seeks Leadership Role," Defense One” Defense One, March 20, 2020.

David Ignatius, "The Coronavirus Is A Test of Our National Character," Washington Post, March 19, 2020.

David E. Sanger, David D. Kirkpatrick, Sui-Lee Wee, and Katrin Bennhold, "Search for Coronavirus Vaccine Becomes a Global Competition, The United States, China and Europe are battling to be the first to find a cure, bringing a nationalist element to a worldwide crisis," New ” New York Times, March 19, 2020.

Dan Blumenthal, "Coronavirus and the Future of US-China Geopolitical Competition: What We Know So Far," Center for Strategic and International Studies, March 18, 2020.

Kurt M. Campbell and Rush Doshi, "The Coronavirus Could Reshape Global Order, China Is Maneuvering for International Leadership as the United States Falters," Foreign Affairs, March 18, 2020.

Yasmeen Abutaleb and Josh Dawsey, "Trump'“Trump’s Soft Touch with China's Xi Worries Advisers Who Say More Is Needed to Combat Coronavirus Outbreak," Washington Post, February 16, 2020.

Democracy, Authoritarianism, and Autocracy

Jeffrey Smith and Nic Cheeseman, "Authoritarians Are Exploiting the Coronavirus. Democracies Must Not Follow Suit," Foreign Policy, April 28, 2020.

Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon, "Why Populists Want a Multipolar World, Aspiring Authoritarians Are Sick of the Liberal Order and Eager for New Patrons in Russia and China," National Interest” National Interest, April 25, 2020.

Editorial Board, "How China' Congressional Research Service 21 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Editorial Board, “How China’s Authoritarian System Made the Pandemic Worse," Washington Post” Washington Post, April 17, 2020.

Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Carisa Nietsche, "The Coronavirus Is Exposing Populists' Hollow Politics, As the Crisis Worsens, Even More Extreme Groups May Prosper," Foreign Policy, April 16, 2020.

Emily Schultheis, "Coronavirus Has Paralyzed Europe's Far Right," Foreign Policy, April 14, 2020.

Mason Clark and Aidan Therrien, "Russia in Review: Kremlin Tests Authoritarian Societal Control Measures During COVID-19 Crisis," Institute for the Study of War, April 13, 2020.

Suzanne Nossel, "Don'“Don’t Let Leaders Use the Coronavirus as an Excuse to Violate Civil Liberties," Foreign Policy, April 13, 2020.

Stephen M. Walt, "The United States Is Getting Infected With Dictatorship," Foreign Policy, ” Foreign Policy, April 13, 2020.

Michael Birnbaum and Terrence McCoy, "As Leaders Seize Powers to Fight Coronavirus, Fear Grows for Democracy," Washington Post, April 12, 2020.

Steve H. Hanke, "Crises Enliven 'Totalitarian Temptations,'"’” Cato Institute, April 10, 2020.

Elisabeth Zerofsky, "How Viktor Orbán Used the Coronavirus to Seize More Power," New Yorker” New Yorker, April 9, 2020.

Tom G. Palmer and Simon Lee, "How One Pandemic Leads to Another," Cato Institute, April 8, 2020.

Frances Z. Brown and Saskia Brechenmacher, and Thomas Carothers, "How Will the Coronavirus Reshape Democracy and Governance Globally?" Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April, 6 2020.

James Lamond, "Authoritarian Regimes Seek To Take Advantage of the Coronavirus Pandemic," Center for American Progress, April 6, 2020.

Seth J. Frantzman, "Coronavirus Is Empowering Dictators And Changing The World Order," National Interest, April 4, 2020.

Joshua Kurlantzick, "Dictators Are Using the Coronavirus to Strengthen Their Grip on Power," Washington Post, April 3, 2020.

John Haltiwanger, "The Coronavirus Just Created a New Dictator in Europe and Has Emboldened the Toxic Behavior of Authoritarians Worldwide," Business Insider” Business Insider, April 1, 2020.

Luke McGee, "Power-Hungry Leaders Are Itching to Exploit the Coronavirus Crisis," CNN, ” CNN, April 1, 2020.

Jacob Mchangama and Sarah McLaughlin, "Coronavirus Has Started a Censorship Pandemic," Foreign Policy, April 1, 2020.

Florian Bieber, "Authoritarianism in the Time of the Coronavirus, The Pandemic Offers Dictators—and Democracies Alike—an Opportunity for Abuse," Foreign Policy, March 30, 2020.

Selam Gebrekidan, "For Autocrats, and Others, Coronavirus Is a Chance to Grab Even More Power," New York Times, March 30, 2020.

Anne Applebaum, " Congressional Research Service 22 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Anne Applebaum, “The People in Charge See an Opportunity, Around the World, Rulers Are Using the Pandemic As An Excuse to Grab More Power. And the Public Is Going Along with It," Atlantic” Atlantic, March 23, 2020.

Melinda Haring and Doug Klain, "Why Autocrats Love Coronavirus," National Interest, March 22, 2020.

Societal Tension, Reform, and Transformation, and Governmental Stability

Editorial Board, "Russia's Economic Woes Will Clip Vladimir Putin's Wings, Pandemic Combined with Collapsing Oil Prices Spells Real Hardship," Governmental Stability Henry Foy, “Russia: Pandemic Tests Putin’s Grip on Power,” Financial Times, May 4, 2020. Cary Huang, “Coronavirus: China Faces an Economic Reckoning as Covid-19 Turns World Against Globalisation,” South China Morning Post, May 3, 2020. Andrew Higgins, “Putin, Russia’s Man of Action, Is Passive, Even Bored, in the Coronavirus Era,” New York Times, April 30, 2020. Nael M. Shama, “In Egypt, the Coronavirus Poses a Political Threat,” Foreign Policy, April 30, 2020. Don Weinland, “China Slowdown Puts Xi in Political Bind, Coronavirus Threatens Communist Party’s Aim of Widespread Prosperity by End of 2020,” Financial Times, April 28, 2020. Editorial Board, “Russia’s Economic Woes Will Clip Vladimir Putin’s Wings, Pandemic Combined with Collapsing Oil Prices Spells Real Hardship,” Financial Times, April 27, 2020.

Lance Kokonos, "Coronavirus Is Making Russia's Demographic Disaster Even Worse," National Interest” National Interest, April 25, 2020.

Leon Aron, "The Coronavirus Could Imperil Putin's Presidency," Wall Street Journal, April 23, 2020.

Holly Ellyatt, "Coronavirus Is a 'Challenge'‘Challenge’ for Putin and 'Huge Danger' for the World, Kremlin Warns," CNBC” CNBC, April 22, 2020.

Rick Gladstone, "Oil Collapse and Covid-19 Create Toxic Geopolitical Stew," New York Times, , April 22, 2020.

Sarah Rainsford, "Coronavirus Crisis Tests Putin's Grip on Power in Russia," BBC” BBC, April 22, 2020.

Armand Gosu, "Russia Needs an OPEC+ 2.0 Accord to Avoid a Crisis," Middle East Institute, April 21, 2020.

Patrick Tucker, "Putin Is Projecting Strength In the Face of Coronavirus. But the Image is Cracked," Defense One, April 21, 2020.

Brian Whitmore, "The Desanctification of Putin, The Political Costs of COVID-19 Are Beginning to Mount," Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), April 21, 2020.

Steven Erlanger, "Coronavirus Has Lifted Leaders Everywhere. Don't Expect That to Last," New ” New York Times, April 15, 2020.

James Traub, "After the Coronavirus, the Era of Small Government Will Be Over," Foreign Policy” Foreign Policy, April 15, 2020.

Congressional Research Service 23 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Frances Z. Brown and Jarrett Blanc, "Coronavirus in Conflict Zones: A Sobering Landscape," Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 14, 2020. (Includes links to 12 additional writings by various authors focusing on situations in specific countries and regions.)

Michael Albertus, "The Coronavirus Will Cause New Crises in Latin America," Foreign Policy, ” Foreign Policy, April 16, 2020.

Samuel Brannen, "Will Covid-19 End the Age of Mass Protests?" Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), April 7, 2020.

Kyle Harper, "The Coronavirus Is Accelerating History Past the Breaking Point, Every Era Gets the Infectious Diseases—and the Resulting Political Upheaval—It Has Coming," Foreign Policy, ” Foreign Policy, April 6, 2020.

Anthony Faiola, Lindzi Wessel, and Shibani Mahtani, "Coronavirus Chills Protests from Chile to Hong Kong to Iraq, Forcing Activists to Innovate," Washington Post, April 4, 2020.

James Jay Carafano, "Coronavirus and Regime Change—Will This Plague Topple Nations Great and Small?" Heritage Foundation, April 1, 2020.

Nic Cheeseman, "The Coronavirus Could Topple Governments Around the World," Foreign Policy” Foreign Policy, March 31, 2020.

Carolyn Whitzman, "Could Coronavirus Lead To a Fairer World?" National Interest, March 31, 2020.

Elizabeth Kolbert, "Pandemics and the Shape of Human History, Outbreaks Have Sparked Riots and Propelled Public-Health Innovations, Prefigured Revolutions and Redrawn Maps," New Yorker” New Yorker, March 20, 2020.

Simon Mair, "Why Coronavirus May Change the World (For Better or Worse)," National Interest, ” National Interest, March 30, 2020.

Nicholas Mulder, "The Coronavirus War Economy Will Change the World," Foreign Policy, ” Foreign Policy, March 26, 2020.

World Economy, Globalization, and U.S. Trade Policy

Greg Ip, "Globalization Is Down but Not Out Yet," Ruchir Sharma, “The Pandemic Isn’t Changing Everything, It Is Just Speeding Up Trends That Were Already Underway,” New York Times, May 3, 2020. James Crabtree, “The End of Emerging Markets? Economies such as Brazil, Indonesia, India, Russia, and Turkey face a daunting new reality,” Foreign Policy, May 3, 2020. Kevin Sieff, “The U.S. Wants Mexico to Keep Its Defense and Health-Care Factories Open. Mexican Workers Are Getting Sick and Dying,” Washington Post, May 1, 2020. Ariel E. Levite and Lyu Jinghua, “Travails of an Interconnected World: From Pandemics to the Digital Economy,” Lawfare, April 30, 2020. Nathaniel Taplin, “Trump’s Trade Deal With China Is Another Coronavirus Victim, The Pandemic Is Exposing the Perils of Agreements Based on Numerical Targets Rather Than Tariff Reductions or Policy Concessions,” Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2020. Trevor Jackson, “Terminal Deflation Is Coming, Central Banks’ Interventions in the Pandemic Economy Are Unprecedentedly Vast—and Not Nearly Enough,” Foreign Policy, April 29, 2020. Greg Ip, “Globalization Is Down but Not Out Yet,” Wall Street Journal, April 28, 2020.

Zhou Xin, " Congressional Research Service 24 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Zhou Xin, “Coronavirus: How Will China's Role in the Global Economy Change When Faced with Pandemic Backlash?" South China Morning Post, April 28, 2020.

Nicholas Mulder and Adam Tooze, "The Coronavirus Oil Shock Is Just Getting Started," Foreign Policy” Foreign Policy, April 23, 2020.

Jack Detsch and Robbie Gramer, "The Coronavirus Could Upend Trump's China Trade Deal," Foreign Policy, April 21, 2020.

Richard Fontaine, "Globalization Will Look Very Different After the Coronavirus Pandemic," Foreign Policy, April 17, 2020.

Neil Irwin, "It'“It’s the End of the World Economy as We Know It, Experts Suggest There Will Be 'A Rethink of How Much Any Country Wants to Be Reliant on Any Other Country,'" New York Times’” New York Times, April 16, 2020.

Robert Delaney, "Economic Havoc Wreaked by Coronavirus Has Likely Throttled US-China Trade Deal, Experts Say," South China Morning Post, April 15, 2020.

Joseph E. Stiglitz et al., "How the Economy Will Look After the Coronavirus Pandemic, The Pandemic Will Change the Economic and Financial Order Forever. We Asked Nine Leading Global Thinkers for Their Predictions," Foreign Policy, April 15, 2020.

Martin Wolf, "The World Economy Is Now Collapsing, A Microbe Has Overthrown Our Arrogance and Sent Global Output into a Tailspin," Financial Times, April 14, 2020.

Josh Zumbrun, "Coronavirus-Afflicted Global Economy Is Almost Certainly in Recession," Wall ” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2020.

By Raphael S. Cohen Sunday, "The Coronavirus Will Not Stop Globalization," Lawfare” Lawfare, April 12, 2020.

Dalia Marin, "How COVID-19 Is Transforming Manufacturing," Project Syndicate, April 3, 2020.

Daniel J. Ikenson, "The Coronavirus Crisis Is the Worst Time For Trump To Put Up Trade Barriers," National Interest, March 30, 2020.

Simon Lester, "The Coronavirus Crisis Is the Right Time For Free Trade," National Interest, ” National Interest, March 30, 2020.

David Frum, "The Coronavirus Is Demonstrating the Value of Globalization," Atlantic” Atlantic, March 27, 2020.

Mie Oba, "Coronavirus and the Future of Globalization," Diplomat” Diplomat, March 18, 2020.

Philippe Legrain Marc, " Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman, “Will the Coronavirus End Globalization as We Know It?” Foreign Affairs, March 16, 2020. Philippe Legrain Marc, “The Coronavirus Is Killing Globalization as We Know It," Foreign Policy” Foreign Policy, March 12, 2020.

Allied Defense Spending and U.S. Alliances

Marcus Weisgerber, " Wallace C. Gregson, “The Coronavirus Creates New National Security Problems for America,” National Defense, May 3, 2020. Marcus Weisgerber, “Global Defense Spending Decline Expected As Nations Deal with Coronavirus," Defense One, April 28, 2020.

Tom Kington, " Congressional Research Service 25 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Tom Kington, “Back Hard-Hit Businesses? Experts Press EU to Instead Boost Defense Spending," Defense News, April 27, 2020.

Clementine Starling, "Europe Was Just Getting Better at Moving Militaries," Defense One, April 22, 2020.

Brooks Tigner, Brussels, "Covid-19: NATO to Review Military Resilience for Post-pandemic World," Jane'” Jane’s, April 17, 2020.

Richard Fontaine, "We Need an Atlantic Charter for the Post-coronavirus Era," Atlantic” Atlantic, April 16, 2020.

Deborah Haynes, "Coronavirus: NATO Chief Denies Alliance Has Responded Too Slowly to Pandemic," Sky News, April 15, 2020.

Stéphanie Fillion, "In Canada, Patience Wearing Thin Over Trump's Antics, A Threat to Militarize the Border and Attempts to Hold Up Lifesaving Medical Supplies Have Roiled the Calmest of Countries," Foreign Policy, April 14, 2020.

Sebastian Sprenger, "NATO Defense Ministers to Weigh Coronavirus Fallout," Defense News, ” Defense News, April 14, 2020.

James Jay Carafano, "After Coronavirus—We Still Need Europe and They Need Us. Here's What Has to Happen," Heritage Foundation, April 13, 2020.

Derek Chollet, Michał Baranowski, and Steven Keil, "Where is NATO? And Where is Trump? The Virus Is Destroying Economies and Paralyzing Societies in Ways Russian Military Planners Could Only Dream," Defense One, April 13, 2020.

Philip H. Gordon and Jeremy Shapiro, "The Atlantic Alliance Had Preexisting Conditions. The Pandemic Will Worsen Them," War on the Rocks, April 13, 2020.

Quentin Lopinot, "Europe Is at War with the Coronavirus. Where Does That Leave European Defense?" Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), April 13, 2020.

Janusz Bugajski, "Mind the Gap, And Don't Succumb to Transatlantic Fever," Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), April 10, 2020.

Sophia Becker, Christian Mölling, and Torben Schütz, "The Coronavirus Threatens NATO. Let's ’s Move to Protect the Alliance," Defense News, April 9, 2020.

Matthew Karnitschnig and Judith Mischke, "Berlin Lets Mask Slip on Feelings for Trump's ’s America, The Crisis Has Convinced Germans That Trump Puts Other Countries at Risk," Politico” Politico, April 6 (updated April 7), 2020.

Andy Blatchford, "Trump'“Trump’s Moves to Hold Medical Supplies Tip Trudeau to China," Politico, ” Politico, April 4 (updated April 5), 2020.

Dov S. Zakheim, "NATO'“NATO’s Budget Virus: How the Pandemic Could Slash Military Spending," The Hill, March 16, 2020.

European Union

Elisabeth Braw, "Forget Washington and Beijing. These Days Global Leadership Comes From Berlin," European Union Rick Noack, “The Coronavirus Has Brought Back Border Barriers in Europe, Dividing Couples, Families and Communities,” Washington Post, May 1, 2020. Sinan Ulgen, “The Coronavirus Is Creating a Crisis on Europe’s Borders,” Foreign Policy, May 1, 2020. Congressional Research Service 26 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Spencer Wong, “Is the Coronavirus Ushering in an Era of Eurosceptic Leaders? The Pandemic Could Very Well Be a Watershed Moment in European Politics,” National Interest, April 29, 2020. Elisabeth Braw, “Forget Washington and Beijing. These Days Global Leadership Comes From Berlin,” Foreign Policy, April 28, 2020.

Rikard Jozwiak, "EU Monitors See Coordinated COVID-19 Disinformation Effort By Iran, Russia, China," Radio Farda, April 23, 2020.

Jennifer Rankin, "How Covid-19 Poured Cold Water on Netherlands' EU Romance," Guardian ” Guardian (UK), April 23, 2020.

Peter Rough, "The European Union Needs More National Flexibility," National Review, April 22, 2020.

Donatienne Ruy, "Fault Lines and Prospects for European Solidarity," Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSIS), April 22, 2020.

Bashkim Smakaj, "COVID-19 and the Need for Deep EU Reform," Euractiv” Euractiv, April 22, 2020.

HJ Mai, "The Coronavirus Could Tear the EU Apart," Vox” Vox, April 21, 2020.

Stephania Taladrid, "What the Coronavirus Means for Europe's Future," New Yorker, April 21, 2020.

Sam Fleming, "EU Coronavirus Recovery Fund Plans Face Political Bear Traps," Financial ” Financial Times, April 20, 2020.

Andrea Dudik and Flavia Krause-Jackson, "Albania'“Albania’s European Dream Is Just Out of Reach, As the Coronavirus Widens Fractures in the EU, Hopes of a Larger Europe Fade," Bloomberg Businessweek” Bloomberg Businessweek, April 17, 2020.

Dalibor Rohac, "Europe Needs an Alexander Hamilton, Not More Budget Hawks," Foreign Policy” Foreign Policy, April 16, 2020.

Simon Clark and Ben Dummett, "Coronavirus Accelerates European Efforts to Block Foreign Takeovers," Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2020.

Luke McGee, "The EU Has Bungled Its Response to Coronavirus and It Might Never Fully Recover," CNN” CNN, April 10, 2020.

by Tom Rogan, "Coronavirus Bailout Lays Bare European Union Nationalist Divisions," Washington Examiner, April 10, 2020.

Samuel Volkin, "Covid-19 and a Splintered European Union," Hub (Johns Hopkins University), , April 10, 2020.

Oliver Wiseman, "Will We Meet Again? The Covid-19 Crisis Is Testing European Unity to the Breaking Point," City Journal, April 8, 2020.

Heather A. Conley, "An Eroding European Union," Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), April 6, 2020.

Katya Adler, "Coronavirus Outbreak Eats Into EU Unity," BBC” BBC, April 3, 2020.

Katharina Konarek, "COVID-19—A Make-It or Break-It Moment for the European Union," The Hill” The Hill, April 3, 2020.

Kevin Allison, "A COVID-19 test for the European Union," Gzero Media, March 31, 2020.

Congressional Research Service 27 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Definition of, and Budgeting for, U.S. National Security

Greg Barbaccia, "The Coronavirus Pandemic Will Force a Paradigm Shift in the U.S. Intelligence Community," National Interest, April 23, 2020.

Kori Schake, "A New Org Chart Won't Stop the Next Pandemic," Bloomberg” Bloomberg, April 22, 2020.

Rachel Olney, "How Will the Pandemic Affect National Security Innovation?" War on the Rocks, , April 21, 2020.

Christopher Woody, "After Coronavirus, the US Needs to Worry about a '7th‘7th domain' of Warfare, Top Navy Commander in Europe Says," Business Insider, April 17, 2020.

David E. Sanger, "Analysis: Will Pandemic Make Trump Rethink National Security?" New York Times” New York Times, April 15, 2020.

Benjamin Jensen, "When Systems Fail: What Pandemics and Cyberspace Tell Us About the Future of National Security," War on the Rocks, April 9, 2020.

Christopher Preble, "How will COVID-19 Change US National Security Strategy?" Responsible Statecraft” Responsible Statecraft, April 8, 2020.

Glenn S. Gerstell and Michael Morell, "Four Ways U.S. Intelligence Efforts Should Change in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic," Washington Post, April 7, 2020.

Oona A. Hathaway, "After COVID-19, We Need to Redefine 'National Security,' The Post-9/11 Era Is Over," Slate” Slate, April 7, 2020.

Zachery Tyson Brown, "America'“America’s National Security Software Needs an Upgrade, The Outdated U.S. Security Apparatus Was Completely Unprepared for the Coronavirus Pandemic," Foreign Policy” Foreign Policy, April 6, 2020.

Ben Rhodes, "The 9/11 Era Is Over, The Coronavirus Pandemic and a Chapter of History That Should Have Expired Long Ago," Atlantic” Atlantic, April 6, 2020.

Gregory D. Koblentz and Michael Hunzeker, "National Security in the Age of Pandemics," Defense One, April 3, 2020.

Nahal Toosi, "Coronavirus Rattles America's National Security Priesthood," Politico Pro, March 29, 2020.

Joseph S. Nye, Jr., "COVID-19's Painful Lesson about Strategy and Power," War on the Rocks, , March 26, 2020.

Gary J. Schmitt, "National Security and the Pandemic of 2020," American Interest, March 20, 2020.

U.S. Defense Strategy, Defense Budget, and Military Operations

David Barno and Nora Bensahel, "Five Ways the U.S. Military Will Change After the Pandemic," Rebecca Kheel, “Defense Budget Brawl Looms After Pandemic,” The Hill, May 3, 2020. Anrea Howard, “The Pandemic and America’s Response to Future Bioweapons,” War on the Rocks, May 1, 2020. Paul McCleary, “Pentagon Wary Of Adversaries Buying Defense Firms Amid Economic Crisis,” Breaking Defense, April 30, 2020. Ben Wolfgang, “U.S. Military Ramps Up Counterterrorism Operations in Africa Amid Pandemic,” Washington Times, April 29, 2020. Congressional Research Service 28 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment David Barno and Nora Bensahel, “Five Ways the U.S. Military Will Change After the Pandemic,” War on the Rocks, April 28, 2020.

Theresa Hitchens, "DoD Budget Cuts Likely As $4 Trillion Deficit Looms," Breaking Defense, ” Breaking Defense, April 27, 2020.

Walter Russell Mead, "The Century of Bioweapons," Wall Street Journal, April 27, 2020.

Connor O'Brien, "Defense Boosters Fire Warning Shots over Budget Cuts Due to Pandemic," Politico Pro, April 24, 2020.

Natasha Bertrand, Daniel Lippman, and Lara Seligman, "Officials Probe the Threat of a Coronavirus Bioweapon," Politico Pro, April 23, 2020.

William D. Hartung, "Now Isn't the Time to Push for Nuclear Modernization," Defense News, ” Defense News, April 21, 2020.

Loren Thompson, "How Coronavirus Could Permanently Transform The U.S. Military," Forbes, ” Forbes, April 20, 2020.

Todd Harrison, "DoD Must Identify Its 'Crown Jewels' in Preparation for Fiscal Uncertainty," Defense News, April 15, 2020.

Michael J. Mazarr, "Toward a New Theory of Power Projection," War on the RocksRocks, April 15, 2020.

Robert Burns, "Military Sees No Quick Exit From 'New World' of Coronavirus," Associated Press” Associated Press, April 14, 2020.

Tony Bertuca, "Global Pandemic Threatens to Hobble National Defense Strategy," Inside Defense” Inside Defense, April 13, 2020.

David Ignatius, "The Coronavirus Is Already Reshaping Defense Strategies," Washington Post, ” Washington Post, April 9, 2020.

Daniel L. Davis, "Coronavirus Means No More Money for Forever Wars," National Interest, ” National Interest, April 7, 2020.

Harrison Schramm, Kevin A. Chlan, Peter Kouretsos, COVID-19, Analysis and Policy Implications Implications, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, 2020 (released April 7, 2020), 31 pp. pp.

Jason Sherman, "Analyst: Pandemic Will Squeeze Defense Spending As Nation's Focus Shifts to Health Care," Inside Defense, April 6, 2020.

Stratfor Worldview, "Will the Coronavirus Ruin Countries' Ability to Wage War?" National Interest” National Interest, April 5, 2020.

James G. Foggo III, “Germs: The Seventh Domain of Warfare,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, April 2020. David Barno and Nora Bensahel, "After the Pandemic: America and National Security in a Changed World," War on the Rocks, March 31, 2020.

Max Boot, "Covid-19 is Killing Off Our Traditional Notions of National Defense," Washington Post” Washington Post, March 31, 2020.

Jim Thomas, "A Blueprint for Rebuilding America's Military After the Coronavirus," National Interest” National Interest, March 28, 2020.

Doug Bandow, "Now' Congressional Research Service 29 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Doug Bandow, “Now’s The Time To Become A Truly 'America First' Military, With Coronavirus Killing the Economy, We Can No Longer Afford to Project Power Everywhere," American Conservative” American Conservative, March 26, 2020.

Doug Bandow, "How the Coronavirus Shows North Korea Doesn't Matter That Much to America," National Interest, March 25, 2020.

Doug Bandow, "Coronavirus Means America Is Really Broke. Trump Should Get the Hell Out of Syria," National Interest, March 22, 2020.

U.S. Foreign Assistance and International Debt Relief

Matthew Lee, "Virus Pandemic Collides with Trump's Disdain for Foreign Aid," Associated Press Michael H. Fuchs, Alexandra Schmitt, and Haneul Lee, “Foreign Aid is Critical to Stopping the Coronavirus,” National Interest, May 3, 2020. Daniel F. Runde, Conor M. Savoy, and Shannon McKeown, “Covid-19 Has Consequences for U.S. Foreign Aid and Global Leadership,” Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), May 1, 2020. James Kynge and Sun Yu, “China Faces Wave of Calls for Debt Relief on ‘Belt and Road’ Projects,” Financial Times, April 30, 2020. Charles Holmes, Anthony Lake, and Witney Schneidman, “It’s Time to Help Africa Fight the Virus, The Continent Is Ripe for a Public Health Disaster, and Western Powers Must Step in to Prevent Another Global Catastrophe,” Foreign Policy, April 29, 2020. Matthew Lee, “Virus Pandemic Collides with Trump’s Disdain for Foreign Aid,” Associated Press, April 17, 2020. , April 17, 2020.

Adam Tooze, "A Global Pandemic Bailout Was Coming—Until America Stopped It," Foreign Policy” Foreign Policy, April 17, 2020.

Editorial Board, "Even as Rich Countries Reel, It's Imperative to Help Emerging Markets," Washington Post, April 16, 2020.

Dayo Israel, "Unless Canceled, Africa's Debt Burden Will Cause COVID-19 to Kill Millions," Washington Examiner, April 16, 2020.

Cara Anna and Aya Batrawy, "Richest Countries Agree to Freeze Poorer Nations' Debt," Associated Press, April 15, 2020.

Nahal Toosi, "Trump Hobbles Foreign Aid as Coronavirus Rips Around the World, Confusion at the Top Has Crippled USAID at a Critical Time for the Global Battle Against the Pandemic," Politico” Politico, April 15, 2020.

Josh Zumbrun, "G-7 Countries Support Debt Relief for Poorest Countries If Joined by Full G-20," G20,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2020.

Robbie Gramer, "Outgoing USAID Chief Says Pandemic Underscores Importance of Foreign Aid," Foreign Policy, April 13, 2020.

Josh Rogin, "The Pandemic Means the Trump Administration Must Stop Mistreating USAID," Washington Post, April 9, 2020.

Josh Rogin, "America'“America’s $2 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus Package Ignores the Rest of the World," Washington Post, March 26, 2020.

Non-state Actors

Luis Fajardo, "Coronavirus: Latin American Crime Gangs Adapt to Pandemic," BBC, April 22, 2020.

Raffaello Pantucci, "After the Coronavirus, Terrorism Won't Be the Same," Congressional Research Service 30 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Non-state Actors Lydia Khalil, “COVID-19 and America’s Counter-Terrorism Response,” War on the Rocks, May 1, 2020. Luke Baker, “Militants, Fringe Groups Exploiting COVID-19, Warns EU Anti-Terrorism Chief,” Reuters, April 30, 2020. Joseph Hincks, “With the World Busy Fighting COVID-19, Could ISIS Mount a Resurgence?” Time, April 29, 2020. Luis Fajardo, “Coronavirus: Latin American Crime Gangs Adapt to Pandemic,” BBC, April 22, 2020. Raffaello Pantucci, “After the Coronavirus, Terrorism Won’t Be the Same,” Foreign Policy, April 22, 2020.

Valentina Di Donato and Tim Lister, "The Mafia Is Poised to Exploit Coronavirus, and Not Just in Italy," CNN” CNN, April 19, 2020.

Jim Mustian and Jake Bleiberg, "'“‘Cartels Are Scrambling': Virus Snarls Global Drug Trade," Associated Press, April 19, 2020.

Colum Lynch, "How Trump and Putin Weakened U.N. Bid for a Global Cease-Fire, U.S. Officials Worry That Counterterrorism Operations Will Be Constrained," Foreign Policy, April 17, 2020.

Seth J. Frantzman, "Iran Regime, ISIS and Other Extremists Exploit Coronavirus to Wreak Havoc," Jerusalem Post, April 16, 2020.

Kevin Sieff, Susannah George, and Kareem Fahim, "Now Joining the Fight Against Coronavirus: The World's Armed Rebels, Drug Cartels and Gangs," Washington Post, April 14, 2020.

Souad Mekhennet, "Far-Right and Radical Islamist Groups Are Exploiting Coronavirus Turmoil," Washington Post, April 10, 2020.

Yonah Jeremy Bob, "Coronavirus Economic Impact Could Block Iran from Funding Terror— INSS," Jerusalem Post, April 7, 2020.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, "What Coronavirus Means for Online Fraud, Forced Sex, Drug Smuggling and Wildlife Trafficking," Lawfare” Lawfare, April 3, 2020.

Cara Anna, "Extremists See Global Chaos from Virus As An Opportunity," Associated Press, ” Associated Press, April 2, 2020.

Stratfor Worldview, "Coronavirus Could Lead To Lots of This in the Near Future," National Interest” National Interest, March 22, 2020. (The article discusses potential actions by non-state actors.)

U.S. Attention to International Issues Other than COVID-19

Bertil Lintner, "Time May Be Ripe for China to Invade Taiwan, Pandemic Has Left a US Security Vacuum Around the Self-Governing Island China Has Oft-Vowed to 'Reincorporate' with the Mainland," Asia Times Arjun Kapur, “Scotland Launched an Invasion During the Black Death. Does History Tell China to Attack Taiwan?” National Interest, May 2, 2020. Con Coughlin, “China Exploiting the Coronavirus Pandemic to Expand in Asia,” Gatestone Institute, April 30, 2020. Corinne Redfern, “The Pandemic’s Hidden Human Trafficking Crisis, The Coronavirus Has Created More People Vulnerable to Exploitation by Traffickers—and Revealed the World’s Unpreparedness to Protect Them,” Foreign Policy, April 30, 2020. Congressional Research Service 31 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Paul Haenle, “Security Concerns in Asia-Pacific Escalate Amid Coronavirus Scramble, While the Trump Administration Is Consumed with the Coronavirus, China and North Korea Are Seizing the Moment for Strategic Advantage,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 29, 2020. Bertil Lintner, “Time May Be Ripe for China to Invade Taiwan, Pandemic Has Left a US Security Vacuum Around the Self-Governing Island China Has Oft-Vowed to ‘Reincorporate’ with the Mainland,” Asia Times, April 28, 2020. , April 28, 2020.

Victor Davis Hanson, "Pandemic Only 1 of America's Security Concerns," Daily Signal, April 23, 2020.

Gordon Lubold and Dion Nissenbaum, "With Trump Facing Virus Crisis, U.S. Warns Rivals Not to Seek Advantage," Wall Street Journal, April 20, 2020.

Ellen Mitchell, "Foreign Powers Test US Defenses Amid Coronavirus Pandemic," The Hill, April 19, 2020.

Karen DeYoung, "Foreign Policy Challenges Persist for a Distracted U.S. in the Midst of Pandemic," Washington Post, April 10, 2020.

Sylvie Lanteaume (Agence France-Presse), "Hit by Virus, Pentagon Warns Enemies: Don't Test Us," Us,” Yahoo News, April 10, 2020.

"With the world distracted, China intimidates Taiwan," Economist” Economist, April 8, 2020. (This article does not list an author.)

Fred Kaplan, "The Coronavirus Hasn't Stopped Trump From Undermining Our National Security," Slate” Slate, March 26, 2020.

Role of Congress

Robbie Gramer and Jack Detsch, "Pandemic Stymies Congressional Check on Trump's Foreign Policy," Foreign Policy, April 8, 2020.

Author Contact Information

Author Information Ronald O'Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs Michael Moodie Specialist in Naval Affairs ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])
Kathleen J. McInnis, Specialist in International Security ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])
Michael Moodie, Assistant Director and Senior Specialist in Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Kathleen J. McInnis Specialist in International Security Congressional Research Service 32 COVID-19: Potential Implications for International Security Environment Disclaimer This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material. Congressional Research Service R46336 · VERSION 2 · UPDATED 33 Affairs, Defense and Trade ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])

Footnotes

1.

CRS Report R44891, U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke and Michael Moodie.

2.

For more on the U.S.-led liberal international order and the concept of world order generally, see CRS Report R44891, U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke and Michael Moodie. As discussed in that report, the term international order or world order generally refers in foreign policy discussions to the collection of organizations, institutions, treaties, rules, norms, and practices that are intended to organize, structure, and regulate international relations during a given historical period.

Other terms used to refer to the U.S.-led liberal international order include postwar international order, rules-based international order, and open international order. Observers sometimes substitute world for international, or omit international or world and refer simply to the liberal order, the U.S.-led order, and so on. In the terms liberal international order and liberal order, the word liberal does not refer to the conservative-liberal construct often used in discussing contemporary politics in the United States or other countries. It is, instead, an older use of the term that refers to an order based on the rule of law, as opposed to an order based on the arbitrary powers of hereditary monarchs.

Though often referred to as if it is a fully developed or universally established situation, the liberal international order, like other international orders that preceded it, is incomplete in geographic reach and in other ways; partly aspirational; not fixed in stone, but rather subject to evolution over time; sometimes violated by its supporters; not entirely free of might-makes-right behavior; resisted or rejected by certain states and non-state actors; and subject to various stresses and challenges.

3.

For additional discussion of the issue of the prevalence of democracy and authoritarian or autocratic forms of government around the world, see CRS Report R45344, Global Trends in Democracy: Background, U.S. Policy, and Issues for Congress, by Michael A. Weber.

4.

See CRS Report R44891, U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke and Michael Moodie.

5.

For brief discussions of the impacts of World War I on societies and governments, see, for example, Robert Wilde, "The Consequences of World War I, Political and Social Effects of the War to End All Wars," ThoughtCo., July 10, 2019; John Horne, "The First World War: the Aftermath, The Years Following the End of the War Were Marked by More Wars, Political Upheaval and Deep Social Change," Irish Times, April 24, 2018; Steven Mintz, "Historical Context: The Global Effect of World War I," History Now (Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History), undated, accessed April 16, 2020; Margaret MacMillan, "World War I: The War That Changed Everything," Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2014; Steven Erlanger, "The War to End All Wars? Hardly. But It Did Change Them Forever." New York Times, June 26, 2020; Jay Winter, "How the Great War Shaped the World," Atlantic, World War I issue (September 29, 2014); Kathleen Haley, "100 Years after WWI: The Lasting Impacts of the Great War," Media, Law & Policy (Syracuse University), July 28, 2014; "Aftermath of World War I," Wikipedia, updated April 11, 2020, accessed April 16, 2020.