Looking back on the last few weeks, a famous quote by Goethe (from his report on the siege of Mainz in 1793) came to mind: “Better to commit an injustice than to countenance disorder.” In other words, disorder engenders more injustice than it eradicates.

Thierry de Montbrial, Ifri's executive chairman, et Françoise Nicolas, director of Ifri's Center for Asian Studies, talked about the global order in a post-COVID-19 world at a videoconference on July 15th ahead of the World Knowledge Forum organized by Maeil Business Newspaper.

With American cities burning and the coronavirus still raging, killing more people than in any other country, President Trump also has growing problems overseas. He has never before been so isolated and ignored, even mocked.

At the start of the pandemic, Europe and China helped one other. Then the mood changed.

A prominent French think tank has warned that China's so-called "mask diplomacy" amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic threatens to further exacerbate divisions within the European Union, with Beijing tailoring its approach to suit different nations. The French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) published a new report Thursday detailing how coronavirus could alter EU-China relations, both during the outbreak and in the long-term.

European Council meetings are seldom exciting. But last week’s virtual gathering showed once again that, despite fears, Europe is moving forward in the most serious crises.

With the United States gripped by a domestic struggle with Covid-19, China appears to have stepped into its shoes as a global provider.

Françoise Nicolas, director of Ifri's Asian Studies Center, spoke during a webseminar on European integration and China-Europe cooperation, organized by Chinese think tank CCG.

“Populism is the great beneficiary of inefficiency. Without a virtuous response … authoritarian regimes will have free rein to thrive and rebuild walls — or wage war.”