Skip to content

The World When the United States is in Turmoil

The Lodestar, Episode 27

Newlines Institute’s Kamran Bokhari and Jacob Shapiro of Perch Perspectives touch on an array of topics, including how COVID has set the course for U.S.-China competition, the geopolitics of Black Lives Matter, and the shift toward a multipolar world. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a handful of political forces that existed before the virus spread, Shapiro says, and locked the United States and China into a contentious relationship. Elsewhere in the world, the pandemic has created opportunities for some countries to strengthen their positions and in some cases form blocs with other nations as the world moves away from globalization and away from a situation in which the United States is the global superpower. The United States has abdicated its role as global leader, Shapiro says, and needs to look at internal issues like race relations in order to maintain a certain credibility on the world stage because the United States’ greatest strength is in leading by example rather than leading by coercion.

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the guests and not an official policy or position of the Newlines Institute.

Related Articles

Women’s Rights in Albania: A Growing Phenomenon and the Last Taboos 

Women’s Rights in Albania: A Growing Phenomenon and the Last Taboos 

This report is part of the larger anthology “Insights into Albania: Internal Struggles and Geopolitical Challenges in the Western Balkans”

How Temporary Marriages Can Exploit Vulnerable Women in Iraq

How Temporary Marriages Can Exploit Vulnerable Women in Iraq

In Iraq, a conservative, predominantly Shiite country, conversations about sex and pleasure are prohibited. Yet beneath this veneer of modesty,

A Gendered Analysis of Aggression and International Law

A Gendered Analysis of Aggression and International Law

Preventing inter-state aggression cannot succeed without dismantling gendered norms and belief systems.

How Western Tech Enables the Kremlin’s Hospital Attack Tactics in Ukraine 

How Western Tech Enables the Kremlin’s Hospital Attack Tactics in Ukraine 

Introduction  Sanctions constraining Russia’s ability to wage war will limit its ability to engage in human rights violations and atrocities,