By PARI ESFANDIARI and GREGORY TREVERTON

First published on December 31, 2020 in The Article
Title: Fighting Covid and an Attempted Coup: The Shining Moments of 2020.

This article was published prior to the Jan 6th assault on Capitol that was encouraged by the sitting president Donal Trump. Even then the attempted coup was in plain sight as we predicted. The riot was an ugly and close run thing __but for one quick thinking Capitol policeman__ but the democratic system held, which qualifies perhaps not as a shining moment but as something for which the nation should be grateful.

Fighting Covid and an Attempted Coup The year 2020 seems like a dark time when a devastating pandemic made death, poverty, and isolation the order of the day. It was also the year when American democracy was attacked and wounded from within. A falsely disputed election and threat of civil war that was encouraged from above seemed surreal, beyond our darkest predictions and even our imaginations. Indeed 2020 was all that, but the optimist in us wants to remember the shining moments of this long dark night, those bright stars that are hardly acknowledged and too easily forgotten in the darkness and pessimism that is taking over our lives. But in the spirit of New Year, we want to celebrate those shining moments.

March is the month to remember. We were at a conference in Washington and had a normal Friday. But over the weekend, life was up-ended: international flights were cancelled, borders were erected, and the world stood still. The West and indeed the whole global community suddenly grasped and reacted to the magnitude of the pandemic. Yet, despite the confusion, frustration, and initial accusations and finger pointing, something splendid took place. The global community, authoritarian and democratic, developed or developing, collectively chose human life over all else. The debate continues over whether we could have done better in saving people’s lives and economic futures, but that is beside the point. What comes to light is the commonality of our future and what shines through is our ability to take a collective action on the right side of history. 

On November 7, the result of the US presidential election was announced, but immediately was dismissed by the President and the losing party as a “massive fraud”. A multitude of allegations, disputes, and lawsuits were launched. Worse, protestors were encouraged to take to the streets to fight the so-called “deep state’s conspiracies”. This post-election activity was a deliberate assault, from within, on US democracy, with clear consequences for how that democracy will be viewed around the globe. It was an attempted coup, one led by the President of the United States. 

Yet, viewing these disturbing events from another angle, we should take comfort in and celebrate the resilience of our democratic institutions and system. The US government’s principal cyber watchdog, in a statement with other election monitoring groups, said: “The November 3 election was the most secure in American history.” Brave election officials in Georgia, Pennsylvania and other closely-contested states – lifelong Republicans all – literally risked their lives in certifying Biden victories as fair. Even the Trump-packed Supreme Court dismissed a Trump-initiated suit as without standing. The US system took the highest assault possible from within and yet came out victorious. American democracy held.

At the end of this tumultuous year, December is remembered for the first available vaccines, a light at the end of the dark tunnel. But then again, it is also a manifestation of what we could achieve when human ingenuity is accompanied by global collaboration. Not only does it give us hope that we could survive the hard global challenges ahead, but it also reminds us that we can even thrive if we act collectively. Thus, 2020 should be viewed as a year in which humanity’s values were put to the test and triumphed, a year that in a twisted way offered invaluable lessons and a guide on how to move forward. The choice is ours. We can go back to old habits and rebuild our economy as it was. We could use the experience as a pretext to justify defensive action, turning globalisation into a villain. Or we could reflect on 2020 as a year of awakening to our common destiny and choose a new path to a sustainable future.