Content

Issue Brief

Jun 1, 2020

Taking stock: Where are geopolitics headed in the COVID-19 era?

By Jeffrey Cimmino, Matthew Kroenig, and Barry Pavel

The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed pressure points in the global order and threatens to unravel the rules-based international system. This paper examines the geopolitical implications of the pandemic by identifying key strategic shocks and tensions exacerbated by the virus. It also identifies uncertainties for the global order and provides policy recommendations for how the United States and its allies should address the pandemic.

China Coronavirus

In the News

May 1, 2020

Kroenig and Ashford in Foreign Policy: What is the potential fallout from regime collapse in North Korea?

By Atlantic Council

On May 1, Foreign Policy published a biweekly column featuring Scowcroft Center Deputy Director Matthew Kroenig and the Cato Institute’s Emma Ashford discussing the latest news in international affairs. In this column, they debate the potential fallout from regime collapse in North Korea, with Kroenig arguing that this scenario opens the door to a denuclearized […]

China Coronavirus

In the News

May 1, 2020

Manning quoted in Ozy on Kim Jong Un’s disappearance from public view

By Atlantic Council

Korea Politics & Diplomacy

Conflict, Risk, and Tech

Apr 30, 2020

Loose cobras: DPRK regime succession and uncertain control over offensive cyber capabilities

By JD Work

Unconfirmed rumors surfaced in mid April 2020 regarding the potential incapacitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, leading to speculation about the ramifications of a sudden transition of leadership in Pyongyang. These rumors raise serious concerns over the stability of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) control of offensive cyber operations capabilities.

Cybersecurity East Asia

New Atlanticist

Apr 29, 2020

Pandemic response should not equal isolationism, Swedish FM argues

By David A. Wemer

International cooperation will be crucial not only to “fight the pandemic” of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), but also “to get us back on track afterwards,” Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ann Linde said on April 29. She stressed that while leaders remain focused on containing outbreaks in their own countries, they must avoid the temptation to shun the benefits international trade and cooperation can bring as a much-needed economic recovery begins.

Coronavirus European Union

In the News

Apr 8, 2020

Jamil in The National Interest: America Must Lead on Sanctions Relief for Coronavirus-Stricken North Korea

By Atlantic Council

Coronavirus East Asia

New Atlanticist

Apr 1, 2020

Reconciling sanctions and humanitarian need during COVID-19

By Brian O’Toole

As the world economy shuts down to try to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, the humanitarian collateral effects of sanctions become more pronounced and potentially deadly. But the argument that the United States should unilaterally roll back sanctions draws a false dichotomy; sanctions do not have to be suspended or rolled back for the United States to better address humanitarian concerns.

Cuba Economic Sanctions

New Atlanticist

Mar 23, 2020

Coronavirus could bring the United States’ East Asian allies closer to Beijing

By Miyeon Oh

Amid the continued coronavirus crisis in the US and Europe, companies that were trying to reduce their heavy reliance on China cannot help but reverse their moves to keep their supply chains open and operating.

China International Markets

In the News

Feb 27, 2020

Max Brooks in the Washington Post: China barred my dystopian novel about how its system enables epidemics

By Atlantic Council

China Civil Society

In the News

Feb 24, 2020

Manning in The National Interest: Learning to live with a nuclear North Korea

An era is ending, though many are in denial and floundering over the next steps. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to have chosen a path that will end meaningful denuclearization diplomacy with the United States for the foreseeable future and usher in a new chapter in the North Korea saga: living with a nuclear North […]

Korea Security & Defense

Experts