Analytical Memo 1: Global Perspectives

Over the last year, there has been concern about the global response to the Covid19 pandemic as well as it’s long run social, political, and economic effects.  The global economy has experienced a shock similar to the Great Depression.  How can the world come back from this crisis?

Imagine that three important Senators with different perspectives are going to debate on a Sunday TV news talk show.  Your job is to prepare talking points for each of their presentations and debate.

• Senator Adama Ricardo-Smith, a Democrat who is a former economist, educated at the University of Chicago and a Classical-Liberal (C-L).
• Senator Vladimir Trotsky, an independent, former labor activist, and a Marxist/Structuralist (M/S).
• Senator Maria Machiavelli, a Republican and former foreign policy advisor and Realist/Mercantilist (R/M).

Imagine that you’ve been hired as IPE Analyst for the U.S. Congress.  (There are real jobs for IPE experts!) How could you inform their decisions as an IPE intelligence guru?

Your job:

You’ll need to compare and contrast the different perspectives.  For each of the 3 Senators, you will provide a separate analytical memo representing their IPE perspective. (You are writing separate reports addressed to 3 different people.)  Each analytical memo should address:

• How does each IPE perspective perceive the situation and inform us about varied concerns around the pandemic and global response?
• What are the impacts on key actors of the pandemic and global responses? (Who is affected?)
• What are the sources of conflict and potential cooperation from this crisis?
• What role should the U.S. government play domestically?  Internationally?
• How might their IPE perspective respond to the views of the other 2?

Your job is to provide a convincing analysis/report for each Senator that is consistent with their perspective or IPE paradigm.  What you write for each Senator should sound like what they’d say, written like a script or speech.  You are the speech writer!

Here are a few other articles worth considering:

• How the Coronavirus Could Create a New Working Class
• A New Front for Nationalism: The Global Battle Against a Virus