Coronavirus: Has the Crisis Proved the National-Populist Case?

Nationalists and populists on the right, formerly a very small band, have spent decades arguing that offshoring was a danger to America’s independence of action and ability to take care of itself in a crisis. Some spent the same time arguing that the economic model marrying labor-rich China to capital-rich America was bad for American workers, and carried risks of strengthening Chinese authoritarianism or even making it attractive here at home. They argued that the Western belief that economic liberalization would lead to political liberalization had been proven wrong in Central Europe, and was a delusion when applied to Beijing.

Now the coronavirus crisis has given their case a fresh hearing. As Matthew Continetti writes:

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

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Nationalists and populists on the right, formerly a very small band, have spent decades arguing that offshoring was a danger to America’s independence of action and ability to take care of itself in a crisis. Some spent the same time arguing that the economic model marrying labor-rich China to capital-rich America was bad for American workers, and carried risks of strengthening Chinese authoritarianism or even making it attractive here at home. They argued that the Western belief that economic liberalization would lead to political liberalization had been proven wrong in Central Europe, and was a delusion when applied to Beijing.

Now the coronavirus crisis has given their case a fresh hearing. As Matthew Continetti writes: