Existential Implications

The author is professor of politics at East China Normal University in Shanghai

While a number of countries have made progress in containing and controlling the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), even moving forward cautiously with “new normals” sans masks in public spaces, and restarted economies and in-person schools, the global situation remains dire. In September, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported the highest single-day increase in global infections since the pandemic began. In the U.S., universities alone reported 45,000 new cases in the first few weeks of the fall semester and top health expert Anthony Fauci, responding publicly to optimism from President Donald Trump, countered by saying the situation in America has not yet “rounded