2020—Going Viral
The rapid spread of Covid-19 transformed lives all across the world, causing restrictions on individual liberties and cross-border movements. Transatlantic travel came to a virtual halt in the spring of 2020. The coronavirus caused a severe and rapid economic contraction. Its politicization exacerbated existing divides within societies and polities. Yet, in some ways the most surprising effect of the pandemic may turn out to be the limited impact it had on the structural bonds between America and Europe. Talk about NATO’s demise took a back seat and the momentum for increased transatlantic cooperation in science and innovation picked up. In November 2020, Donald Trump’s defeat in the US presidential elections—perhaps the most closely observed political event of all time—signaled a possible return to less divisive public discourse. Even when infected by a virus, Pax Transatlantica endured.