The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired a new wave of familiar argument: that the democratic, free-market system that ushered in an era of unprecedented global prosperity and political freedom for decades was always destined to decline, with the global health crisis only hastening its departure as authoritarian rivals rise.It is true that the malignity of the pandemic and the unevenness of Western democracies’ response have created a strategic window for authoritarians to accelerate their ambitions to deconstruct the free and open world the United States and its allies built after 1989. But the pandemic has also exposed the dangers great-power authoritarians …read more
Source:: The American Interest
