THREAD on the stubborn persistence (tragic, good, or otherwise) of #Interdependence. 1/
Trump and his team came into power in 2017 telling us we needed to put America first, we had returned to an era of "great power" rivalry, the laws of the Hobbesian jungle were all that mattered, and international law, norms & institutions were for sissies. 2/
In this new (or return to the old) dog-eat-dog world, the United States was going to "win" because we had more power -- military, economic, and soft power -- than all other countries. (If the jungle had returned, then we were the lion (or, if a jungle, then the tiger) 3/
Regarding many metrics, the United States is unquestionably the world's greatest superpower. We have more aircraft carriers, for instance, than anyone one else. We have the biggest economy. Tied with Russia, we have the most nuclear weapons. Democracy is still popular. 4/
But our current crisis in dealing with #SARS-CoV-2 / #COVID19 / #coronavirus / underscores two weaknesses with Trump & team's analytic framework about the world. 5/
First, the United States may be a superpower when it comes to nukes or boats, but our state is not all powerful when it comes to fighting pandemics. South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and maybe even China have more state capacity to defend against the threat of SARS-CoV-2. 6/
Second, SARS-CoV-2 underscores the fallacy of go-it-alone, isolationist, build-the-wall strategies. Like climate change, we cannot increase the security of Americans without cooperating with other countries. It's not a normative choice; it's a fact. 7/
During the global financial crisis of the fall of 2008, the G-20 came alive. What is striking today, however, is how little international coordination/cooperation is occuring to address this global pandemic. 8/
Some Republicans on tv (i.e. @LindseyGrahamSC yesterday) have boasted about how we are going to use this crisis to further decouple from China. We're going to reduce our dependence on the Chinese for drugs, supply chains etc. & emerge stronger than before. 9/
This strategy is very short-sided. Instead of trying to disconnect , we should be deepening international cooperation on issues like pandemics, climate change, and the global economy. 10/
Chinese leaders should be learning the same lessons too. Those Chinese government officials propagating the outrageous myth that the US sent this virus to Wuhan are not thinking strategically. That's a lose-lose strategy, not a win-win approach. 11/
And instead of increasing the DOD budget as our only strategy for defending Americans, we should be investing more in the CDC, #PaidSickLeave , health care, R&D, as ways to enhance our state capacity at home. 12/
We can/should still contain China in other dimensions, still promote democracy, human rights, and universal values & AT THE SAME TIME cooperate with China, Russia, etc on issues of mutual interest both for the US and the world. 13/
Our world is connected. In the 21st century, dreaming about going it alone, decoupling, or isolation is dangerous -- extremely dangerous. 14/ END THREAD.
