US President-elect Joe Biden may have promised a “return to normalcy,” but the truth is that there is no going back. The world is changing in fundamental ways, and the actions the world takes in the next few years will be critical to lay the groundwork for a sustainable, secure, and prosperous future.
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BERLIN – Unlike in Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, the modern world’s journey over the next 80 days will be more of a slog than an adventure. But it will culminate in an event of global and historic consequence.
In less than three months, the United States will hold its 59th quadrennial presidential election. Because America is still more powerful economically and militarily than its two leading competitors (Russia and China) combined, its elections are always globally significant. But never before has one posed such an acute threat to the rest of the world.
There is no question that the re-election of President Donald Trump would endanger both the US and the world. Moreover, there is ample reason to fear that a close election could drive the US into a deep, prolonged constitutional crisis, and perhaps into civil violence.
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