Tracking the Coronavirus Pandemic

On our final episode (for now), we examine an older public health crisis and the lessons it offers.

Which Politicians and Senior Officials Have the Coronavirus?

In a new book, Fareed Zakaria draws some hard but unavoidable conclusions about dealing with future viruses.

Around the world, emergency powers are chipping away at democracy—sometimes with public support.

While Congress and the White House remain far apart on COVID-19 stimulus talks, some Democrats hope to restore lost U.S. prestige by adding foreign aid to the bill.

The coronavirus has hit Haredi enclaves hard, but without clear directives from rabbis, isolated communities from Jerusalem to New York will continue to suffer.

A history lesson on pandemics and their aftereffects, Putin becomes Pashinyan’s playmaker, and Selina Meyer humbles Donald Trump.

Pandemics are not always transformative events. While some worrying preexisting trends could accelerate, it’s incorrect to assume that the coronavirus will end globalization, kill liberal democracy, or enhance China’s soft power.

It’s time to add an uncontrolled outbreak to the country’s long list of woes.

In a new survey, international relations experts are pessimistic about the years to come.

And a rise in cyber-ransoms is the result. To stop the cycle, businesses should stop paying up.

A reality check about the foreign-policy implications of a sick president.

The mountainous country is the hardest-hit in the world, partly thanks to a critical lack of oxygen.

Will the same be true for Trump?

The four ways the president’s illness can complicate national security decision-making—or invite foreign attacks.

From socialism to the coronavirus, a unified theory for why everyone thinks Swedes have all the answers.

Trump’s physician expressed optimism about the president’s health after he tested positive for the coronavirus. But his hospitalization brings to light new questions on what happens if a worst-case scenario hits while Americans are casting their votes.

Just when the U.S. public needs clarity about Trump’s health, tradition and the president’s proclivities make that unlikely.

The president has treatment options for his coronavirus infection. None are very good.

Officials are warily watching for adversaries like Russia, Iran, and North Korea to exploit the moment.

The regime has restricted aid to those who fled Afrin in 2018, leaving them without test kits, basic supplies, or access to specialist care.

Those who used to scoff at its mismanagement should take note of Rome’s strategy for defeating COVID-19.

Immunization to COVID-19 is supposed to solve our problems—but it's starting to trigger even bigger ones.

Bibi succumbs to pressure from religious factions even as he imposes a second nationwide lockdown.

In Tanzania and elsewhere, the pandemic and creeping authoritarianism are colliding, making both problems far worse.

The vaccine partnership would help ensure equitable access to a COVID-19 vaccine—including in the United States—but Trump won’t participate.

Nine experts on the future of education after the pandemic.

Already one of the most unequal regions in the world, it may face an unprecedented rise in inequality and poverty due to the economic carnage of the pandemic.

With humanitarian aid and internet services restricted, the conflict-torn state could soon face a public health disaster.

If a vaccine comes out before the election, there are very good reasons not to take it.

Poor governance, disinformation, censorship, and punishing U.S. sanctions have turned a crisis into a disaster.

The nation was already on the economic brink before COVID-19 hit.

The Assad regime is suffering a massive outbreak—and burying the bodies in silence.

As mainstream denominations see their own outbreaks, Shincheonji members say they were unfairly targeted.

Eight voices on the future of entertainment, culture, and sports.

Health care success could inspire economic change, but the future still looks bleak.

From FP Analytics: A country-by-country assessment of government responses to the pandemic.

Washington has a golden opportunity to counter China’s gains.

Countries are too rich to access conventional aid, but they can’t cope by themselves.

Ulrich Beck was a prophet of uncertainty—and the most important intellectual for the pandemic and its aftermath.

A guide to understanding the science, and the politics, preventing U.S. children from being educated this year.

In India, education under lockdown and a deep digital divide threaten to undo real progress in rural areas.

A country that stopped the virus cold now faces an ominous second wave.

A look at how protests, political violence, and conflict have played out during the pandemic.

Despite the border with hard-hit Brazil, the coronavirus is well under control in the country.

The COVID-19 catastrophe is shrinking remittances from the United States and creating a looming humanitarian disaster.

As his poll numbers fall and coronavirus cases rise, the U.S. president needs a scapegoat—and he’s turning to his usual target, Mexico.

After a brief period of praising whistleblowers, Beijing is targeting medical staff and COVID-19 victims again.

The pandemic-fueled food shortage in Syria suggests the worst is yet to come in other conflict-riven countries around the world.

The government tried to bury evidence of a national outbreak—until Egyptians forced it to confess.

Projections based on economic and development data show an increased risk of internal violence in fragile states driven by rising prices and falling incomes.

The rise of “vaccine nationalism” threatens to leave poor countries out in the cold. 

New Delhi is invoking the pandemic to accelerate its suppression of the press.

The pandemic proved, once and for all, that the world can’t be flat. But global trade can recover—if we rewrite the rules.

Populists came to power peddling political fantasies—but the coronavirus has broken the fever.

Despite the government’s anti-immigration rhetoric, many Polish businesses rely on workers from other parts of Eastern Europe.

Ableism has pervaded the failed response to the coronavirus.

One of the greatest achievements of U.S. foreign policy has been targeted by a vicious disinformation campaign.

The foundational international relations theory has been revealed to be far less realistic than it claims.

Many countries have criticized the Swedish government’s lax lockdown, but the deadly mistakes of defunding elder care and decentralizing public health oversight were made before anyone had heard of COVID-19.

Hasty reopenings and inadequate health care are piling up casualties.

The fired commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt failed to “take charge” in responding to the coronavirus outbreak aboard the ship, the Navy found in an investigation.

As coronavirus cases there exceed 1 million, the country’s poorest are struggling to access medical care.

Undocumented migrants and refugees are caught in the crossfire of Malaysia’s coronavirus response and a xenophobic backlash.

After months of lockdown, believers of all faiths are clamoring for houses of worship to fully open their doors to group prayer. Doing it too soon could be disastrous.

The pandemic has given China a chance to assert global leadership.

A disastrous pandemic and the botched Olof Palme investigation have one thing in common: Swedes’ belief that they’re special.

Travel and tourism will be changed forever. We asked seven leading thinkers for their predictions.

With little faith in the government’s coronavirus response, many rural Cambodians are turning to the divine.

A swift government response has kept the coronavirus at bay, for now, but stark inequalities, heavy-handed security forces, and racist rhetoric are threatening the country’s hard-won unity.

Experts have long said extensive testing is the key to mitigating the pandemic. But an analysis of testing data shows low-income countries have few resources.

New surveys show a surprising decline in the Russian president’s popularity. The pandemic will accelerate a trend of mistrust in the Kremlin.

How Trump’s response to both endangers U.S. national security.

It’s the country’s biggest crisis in decades—and all signs suggest Americans will absorb all the wrong lessons from it.

Doctors are being attacked and critics silenced as Moscow tries to control the narrative.

Governments and companies are returning to business at many different speeds. All worry that something might go wrong.

As the coronavirus death toll mounts, interrupted mourning rituals leave families unmoored.

“Nearly all the Taliban leadership in Doha has the bug,” a senior Afghan official said.

Taiwan beat the virus with efficient government and advanced technology—the same ingredients that power the economy.

Germany’s reopening is working because Angela Merkel treats citizens like adults; China’s is succeeding because people see results. In India, there’s no trust—and little evidence of progress.

The White House’s official narrative about the pandemic is contradicted by the facts—and creates new obstacles to stopping the virus.

Democrats and NGOs slammed the White House decision, saying the U.S. president was ceding influence to China and further undercutting the coronavirus response.

Wall Street and Main Street are on two different planets. We asked six leading experts why.

A step-by-step reconstruction of events reveals a long series of mistakes and missteps.

The Trump administration says manufacturing jobs are coming home. The facts tell another story.

A commonsense solution to the housing crisis has gained backers amid the pandemic—but can the political will remain?

With frustration rising over haphazard responses to the coronavirus, community networks are filling the void across the continent.

The coronavirus has exacted a terrible toll—but some good things may come of it yet.

From insurgent groups to charities, a range of nongovernmental organizations are stepping in to respond to the coronavirus crisis.

In Southeast Asia, the coronavirus pandemic has provided a handy excuse for a clampdown on free speech.

The invisibility and silence of Congress is another reason for America’s shocking abdication of global leadership.

Countries begin to reschedule elections after many were postponed due to the coronavirus.

Europe’s pandemic bailouts are trying to save the continent’s economy. Less clear is if they can save the planet.

State leaders are showing up the president in their pandemic response, giving López Obrador’s critics their loudest opportunity yet to oppose his policies.

Emergency monetary policies produce an unintended consequence: rising food prices around the world.

U.S. fails to gain support for an immediate investigation into coronavirus origins and for bringing Taiwan on as observer. 

The nostalgia for George W. Bush inspired by his rousing coronavirus video message is misplaced.

When the coronavirus arrived, aboriginal communities sprang into action long before the government. But in light of a neglected health system, can their tenuous successes be maintained?

Anti-Chinese sentiment and a public health backlash have vaulted Hong Kong-born Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam into the firing line for Canada’s extremists.

As the coronavirus rages on, diplomacy has moved completely online—with mixed reviews.

The psychological harm of lockdown hits people with existing conditions hardest.

Public health is a convenient pretext for extending authoritarian controls.