On the Ballot: Crisis at Home and Power Abroad

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How American leaders respond to a nation in turmoil will have repercussions for U.S. foreign policy

June 10, 2020 | View in Browser

The United States is in turmoil. Protests against police brutality and systemic racism spread across the nation after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd on May 25. An economic shutdown amid the coronavirus pandemic produced unemployment rates not seen since the 1930s—and armed protests against the lockdowns implemented in an effort to contain the disease. Meanwhile, the public health emergency persists, as the national death toll ticks past 110,000 people.

No part of the current crisis invites a quick resolution. And how American leaders act in the coming months and years will have repercussions for U.S. foreign policy. As Richard Haass writes, “The example the United States sets at home and the image it projects abroad can either magnify American power or detract from it.”

Kevin Rudd argues that both the United States and China will come out of the pandemic weakened—with potentially dire consequences for international security. Stacey Abrams writes that reclaiming the United States’ leadership role must start with restoring democracy at home. Richard Wike dives into the global opposition to the United States’ disengagement with the world and embrace of “America first.” And Annette Gordon-Reed traces the roots of white supremacy in the history of slavery—the country’s original sin.