ABSTRACT
This article offers strategic observations about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It assesses whether the disease outbreak represents an intelligence failure. It describes how the global response to COVID-19 is an example of the so-called “spiral model” in action, whereby policy deliberations are overtaken by events. The analysis also assess how recent experience casts new light on assumptions common to the literature on biological weapons. It addresses the possibility that COVID-19 could spark a rise in cosmopolitan attitudes globally and offers reservations about using the COVID-19 experience as a future template for global pandemic response.
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed here are the author’s alone.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
James J. Wirtz
James J. Wirtz is a Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. He is the author of Understanding Intelligence Failure: Warning Response and Deterrence (Routledge, 2017). Professor Wirtz was recently honored as a Distinguished Scholar by the Intelligence Studies Section of the International Studies Association.