Melanie, Zack, and Chris unpack why the United States has failed to contain the novel coronavirus. Most blame poor leadership in the United States — from the White House to public health officials and down to key figures in the media during the earliest stages of the disease. A more focused effort, sooner, as was implemented in many other developed countries, might have worked. But some see a deeper problem — American exceptionalism, especially an unwillingness to learn from the others’ approaches.

If the United States does not turn things around soon, and demonstrate its capacity for solving the pandemic, will U.S. allies and partners be as willing to follow its leadership on a range of other problems? What will be the lasting effects of COVID-19 on the global order, and America’s place in it?

Grievances are aired for Tucker Carlson, the House Armed Service Committee, and the Russians — and the Americans who excuse or ignore their behavior. Zack praises the Washington professional football team for its impending name change, and Chris praises the House and Senate Armed Services Committees for planning to do the same for U.S. military bases. Melanie gives a shout out to the Australians for a serious defense strategy and offers warm and heartfelt congratulations to her niece Kaylee for getting accepted to a top medical school — and to her mom (Melanie’s sister) for helping to set up her three daughters for success.

 

Links

 

• Jeremy Konyndyk, “Exceptionalism Is Killing Americans: An Insular Political Culture Failed the Test of the Pandemic,” Foreign Affairs, June 8, 2020
• Farhad Manjoo, “The World Builds a Wall to Keep America Out,” New York Times, July 1, 2020
• Rebecca Kheel, “House Panel Approves $740.5B Defense Policy Bill,” The Hill, July 1, 2020
• Jeff Cox, “The Coronavirus Will Cost the Economy Nearly $8 Trillion, Congressional Budget Office Says,” CNBC, July 1, 2020
• Rebecca Kheel, “House Armed Services Votes to Make Pentagon Rename Confederate-Named Bases in a Year,” The Hill, July 1, 2020
• Sam LaGrone, “Senate Bill to Purge Confederate Names from U.S. Military Could Affect Two Navy Ships,” USNI News, June 12, 2020
• “Challenging Convention: Charting a New Course for the New American Engagement Initiative,” Atlantic Council, July 9, 2020
• James Fallows, "The Three Weeks that Changed Everything," The Atlantic, June 29, 2020
• Stephen Grey, Andrew Macaskill, Ryan McNeill, Steve Stecklow, and Tommy Wilkes, "Into the Fog: How Britain Lost Track of the Coronavirus," Reuters, June 29, 2020
• Shalini Ramachandran, Laura Kusisto, and Katie Honan, "How New York's Coronavirus Response Made the Pandemic Worse," Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2020
• Chloe Taylor, "Belgium Had the Worst Response to the Coronavirus Crisis among OECD Countries, EIU Says," CNBC, June 17, 2020
• Eric A. Feldman, "Did Japan's Lenient Lockdown Conquer the Cornavirus?", The Reg Review, June 10, 2020
• William Sposato, "Japan's Halfhearted Coronavirus Measures are Working Anyway," Foreign Policy, May 14, 2020
• Lance Williams et al, "California Halted Reserve of Ventilators, Masks, Mobile Hospitals," Reveal News, March 27, 2020
• Megan Molteni, "How Masks Went from Don't Wear to Must Have," Wired, July 2, 2020
• Paul Krugman, "How America Lost the War on Covid-19," New York Times, July 6, 2020
• Kyle Mizokami, "The Air Force Names Its New Jet After the Tuskegee Airmen," Popular Mechanics, September 19, 2019
• Charlie Savage, Mujib Mashal, Rukmini Callimachi, Eric Schmitt, and Adam Goldman, "Suspicions of Russian Bounties Were Bolstered by Data on Financial Transfers," New York Times, June 30, 2020
• Arizona State University, "The Pandemic Dialogues: Great Power Competition and the Case of China"