Oil's Collapse Is a Geopolitical Reset In Disguise
From Russia to Mexico, U.S. foreign policy makers face new risks and opportunities.
Be prepared to change course.
Photographer: USS George H.W. Bush / Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, Bloomberg Opinion will be running a series of features by our columnists that consider the long-term consequences of the crisis. This column is part of a package on how to navigate turmoil in energy markets. For more, see Liam Denning on how to build a more sustainable U.S. energy system and Nathaniel Bullard on why developing countries should speed up their energy transition.
The world is on the cusp of a geopolitical reset. The global pandemic could well undermine international institutions, reinforce nationalism and spur de-globalization. But far-sighted leadership could also rekindle cooperation, glimmers of which appeared in the G-20’s offer of debt relief for some of the world’s poorest countries, a joint plea from more than 200 former national leaders for a more coordinated pandemic response and an unprecedented multinational pact to arrest the crash in oil markets.