The Pandemic Pivot: A Report from the Institute for Policy Studies, the Transnational Institute, and Focus on the Global South

Summary

Transformative change can come out of the COVID-19 crisis, which has exposed everything that's wrong with decades of the world's governments betting on militarism, competition, and wealth creation. A return to sanity and humane governance is still possible. We need a pandemic pivot.

In June and July of 2020, the Institute for Policy Studies invited sixty-eight of the world's leading thinkers and activists to participate in eight in-depth discussions. Their task: to assess the implications of COVID-19 for key global issues as well as the potential for transformative change coming out of this crisis. They discussed a Green recovery, the global economy, coronavirus authoritarianism, migrants and refugees, budget priorities, the global ceasefire, international civil society, and multilateral cooperation. This report by John Feffer from the frontlines of global policy stands in stark contrast to the reality in the world today. Listening to it amounts to a return to sanity and humane governance, and illuminates the way forward that is still possible if we begin soon.