Henry Farrell

Will the Coronavirus End Globalization as We Know It? – with Abraham Newman

The new coronavirus is shaping up to be an enormous stress test for globalization. As critical supply chains break down, and nations hoard medical supplies and rush to limit travel, the crisis is forcing a major reevaluation of the interconnected global economy. Not only has globalization allowed for the rapid spread of contagious disease but it has fostered deep interdependence between firms and nations that makes them more vulnerable to unexpected shocks. Now, firms and nations alike are discovering just how vulnerable they are.

But the lesson of the new coronavirus is not that globalization failed. The lesson is that

Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman, “Will the Coronavirus End Globalization as We Know It?,” Foreign Affairs (online), March 16, 2020.

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Other Writing:

Essay

Ireland’s Cold War

November 11, 2014 The Boston Review
The end of the Cold War didn’t have obvious consequences for everyday life in Ireland. The great battle with communism seemed irrelevant to a country that had only gently been brushed by the forces of industrialized capitalism and affected a threadbare neutrality in international politics. Farming was the thing, even if it had gradually become ...
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Essay

What Happens When Tech Bros Run National Security? – with Abraham Newman

September 20, 2023 Time with Abraham Newman
It’s September 2023, and markets have become battlefields, as economics and geopolitics become ever more closely intertwined. Many think that we are returning to the Cold War, but we’re not. Back then, the military had the materiel and commanded the view of war. Now, after thirty years of globalization, it’s very often business that commands ...
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