News and views from the Blavatnik School of Government community 
COVID-19 attacks the human body, but it is largely the body politic that defends us against it. While we wait for vaccines and treatments, we depend on health systems, governments, and the actions of others to detect the virus, control its spread, and break the chain of infection. But our […]
The COVID-19 profoundly changed our lives in a short period of time. The Blavatnik School now offers innovative digital teaching and online forums where MPP students and alumni from different parts of the world can continue to develop critical thinking and debate policy issues. But the changes affecting our lives […]
The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought the policymaking process into sharp focus, highlighting the complex and interconnected challenges on how to take decisive action in the face of so many ‘unknown unknowns’. As countries around the world move towards easing lockdown measures, governments have struggled with the unintended consequences of […]
The devastating 2019–20 Australian bushfire season seems a lifetime ago. With the vast changes we have seen to our daily lives brought on by the spread of COVID-19, it’s hard to believe the bushfire season only officially ended in March. The extent of the Black Summer bushfires – with an […]
As the coronavirus pandemic devastates health systems worldwide, several governments have called for an independent review of the handling of the international response to the emergence of the novel coronavirus. In particular, such a review would examine the role of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the chief global health coordinating […]
A single virus spurred a global health pandemic of unprecedented proportions in our times. In a matter of weeks since the outbreak, most of the world’s nations, economies, and societies have come to a halt. In an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus, many governments around the world […]
The COVID-19 pandemic poses an unprecedented threat to both public health and the global economy. Only by ditching nationalist rhetoric and policies, and embracing stronger international cooperation, can governments protect the people they claim to represent. The world that emerges from the coronavirus pandemic may be a warring collection of […]
Whether the emergency is the outbreak of a new disease or a climate-related disaster, it is critical for policymakers to ensure adequate resources are available before disaster strikes. Yet the US is often underprepared for high-risk events with a high probability, with irrational decision making and interest group politics leading […]