I've been writing about a G-Zero world, an absence of US global leadership for almost a decade now. Global crisis makes you question, how well does American democracy function? How well is it a representative democracy for the average American? Is it fit for purpose? Are other systems more effective?

A technologically empowered authoritarian regime has built-in advantages to respond to a pandemic. It can track people, make sure that they comply with authority. China can monitor in every building. There's extraordinary data concentration in smartphones. The digital Chinese economy is 50X the size of the digital US economy, even though the American economy is bigger. Built in tracking.