Corona wars: will either Trump or Xi win?

Historian Niall Ferguson writes in this week’s cover piece that, even before coronavirus, the Cold War between America and China was already getting underway. With the current pandemic, animosity between the two superpowers has only increased. So when it comes to the geopolitics of the ‘corona wars’, who will win? Niall tells Cindy on the podcast that it may not be either; that when it comes to pandemics, city-states actually do better than empires. That’s the Taiwans, the South Koreas, and the Singapores. He’s joined on the podcast by Gerard Baker, the editor at large of the Wall Street Journal. They discuss the long term impact of this pandemic on international relations, where Gerry warns that the coming economic crash will shake up politics to such an extent as to make Trump and Brexit pale in comparison.

Also on the podcast, Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and chair of the Health Select Committee Jeremy Hunt. James writes in his politics column this week that coronavirus has only sped up the changes in the Conservative party – such as tackling healthcare head on. In their discussion, Jeremy Hunt also explains why the Conservatives will also need an answer to social care, and fast.

Cindy also speaks to Melanie McDonagh, who writes that the lockdown has turned her into a sans-culotte as she sits in her high rise London flat, while friends tell her of their countryside lockdowns with walks, birdsong, fresh air. Freddy Gray joins the podcast, dialling in from the family beach house on the Isle of Wight.