The four contests that will shape the post-Covid-19 world

As the global order fragments, the alternative is not utopia. It is common sense as well as common humanity.

The US Capitol is reflected in a standby ambulance on March 27, 2020, in Washington, DC. - The US House of Representatives is expected to vote on a COVID-19 stimulus bill which was passed by the Senate earlier in the week. (Photo by Alex Edelman / AFP) (Photo by ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The political contest in the 2010s, after the great financial crisis, was successfully defined by populists as them versus the technocratic elites. Nativism versus globalism. “Our” citizens versus those of nowhere. Nationalism versus open borders.

The global pandemic has shown the limits of the politics of anger. Issues of contact tracing, health capacity, trust in government, cannot be solved by demonisation. So what comes next?