Dr. Fauci’s eyes from across the Atlantic
Güven Sak, PhD
24 January 2021
Trump has left the stage. Watching the day’s processions, I was looking for something to define the moment, but couldn’t find it. Then, a day later, I saw Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the American Center for Disease Control (CDC), speaking at a press briefing. I don’t think there is anything better to represent the end of Trump’s term than the joy and relief on Dr. Fauci’s face.
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Adjusting to the virus in Turkey
Güven Sak, PhD
17 January 2021
COVID-19 surprised everyone. Fareed Zakaria tweeted on April 10 that “it’s not right to call this a recession or even to talk about a Great Depression. This is a great paralysis.” Looking back, to what happened in Turkey this year, I think that is an apt description.
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There is no breaking with Trump legacy
Güven Sak, PhD
10 January 2021
China is an interesting country. I first visited it about seven years ago and was much impressed not only by the infrastructure of a developing country but also by the way Chinese industrial policy operates top-down. Greater respect for the might of that machine that is now changing the deepest parts of the Western state apparatus. As Trump is leaving office in total disgrace, I see no break from Trump’s legacy when it comes to relations with China. Better policies, perhaps, but the limits of engagement are there to stay. Let me elaborate.
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Waiting for Mr. Biden?
Güven Sak, PhD
04 January 2021
Henry Kissinger is 97 years old, and the diplomat behind the first American visit to the People’s Republic of China is urging his country to design a way to communicate with the Chinese state in a long-term, strategic fashion that is unaffected by electoral cycles. “You can say this is totally impossible, but if it is, we will slide into a situation similar to World War I,” he recently said. In the years leading up to the WWI, of course, the conventional wisdom was that war between the great powers was not possible. The lesson was never to make such assumptions, and jealously protect peace.
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