What Actually Mattered This Week: Pandemic, Lockdown, Oil War, Super Tuesday 2

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WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERED THIS WEEK

My thoughts on some of this week’s biggest news stories:

COVID-19 is now officially a pandemic, WHO says

2008: G-20 mobilized, coordinated action by central banks and the IMF.

2020: No international coordination, limited utility of WHO, and no political pressure from the major economies to put a structure for effective response in place.

China’s cover up is responsible for the initial explosion of coronavirus.

US incompetence—wasting six weeks of warning for creating a plan for tests, local containment and improved emergency healthcare system capacity—is responsible for where the virus is today.

All of Italy is being placed on lockdown due to coronavirus

Shutdown in Italy. Business as usual in France.

Italy is making the wiser choice here.

They weren’t able to contain the outbreak early, so now they have to do everything they can to keep people from interacting.

Lesson for other countries: test at scale early so you know what you’re dealing with before you’re forced to take tougher measures that’ll impact your economy.

Eight days that shook the oil market - and the world

The oil price war is a serious problem for countries around the world that are already grappling with coronavirus, and that rely on oil production and export. See: Mexico, Ecuador, parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

As for Saudi and Russia themselves, Russia has the upper hand. Putin has a lot more control compared to the difficulties of Mohammed bin Salman, and oil is a much larger piece of the Saudi economy. The Russians can outlast if they need to.

Biden wins Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Idaho, solidifying front-runner status

The US establishment strongly opposes Sanders. The voters are the reason he’s not likely to be the nominee.

Biden is far from a perfect candidate, but he has a better shot in swing states against Trump than Sanders. He also has less downside than Clinton. And Trump knows it.

Prefer long-form analysis? Here are my thoughts on why a geopolitical recession is a bad time for the global coronavirus crisis and politics in the time of coronavirus.

TRUTHS, DAMNED TRUTHS, AND STATISTICS

Disneyland California has only closed four times in its history:

1963: after JFK’s assassination

1994: after the Northridge earthquake

2001: after 9/11                                                                                       

Now

-New York Times

THE GZERO WORLD WE’RE JUST LIVING IN

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GRAPHIC TRUTH

YOUR GZERO WORLD

Idlib, Syria is the last rebel holdout of the Syrian civil war, a bloody battle that is now in its ninth year. As President Bashar al-Assad launched a final push to retake the city, nearly a million people fled the area under tragic circumstances. This week, a look at the unfolding humanitarian crisis with the International Rescue Committee's David Miliband.

WORLD IN 60 SECONDS

Does a global pandemic like coronavirus bolster the argument for leaders like Xi and Putin to remain in power forever?

What lessons can other countries take from Italy's response to coronavirus?

If coronavirus transmission continues through the year, what will that mean for the US election and Trump?

Find out in this week’s World in 60 Seconds!

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BECAUSE THE INTERNET

Royal reconsideration

DEEP THOUGHTS

"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that other throw at him." – David Brinkley

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Ian Bremmer is president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media and foreign affairs columnist at TIME. He currently teaches at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and previously was a professor at New York University. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.