Pandemic Politics: Making US foreign policy appealing to young Americans
Dakota Foster
In August, International Affairs has teamed up with the Future Strategy Forum for the ‘Pandemic Politics’ series on US politics and the COVID-19 pandemic. International Affairs’ 50:50 in 2020 initiative is partnering with the FSF to support its mission of amplifying the expertise of women and share the insights of PhD students on COVID-19 and grand strategy; the military; and governance and democracy.
This week in Pandemic Politics, Julie George’s introduction, as well as Katrina Ponti’s, Dakota Foster’s and John R. Emery’s blogposts discuss COVID-19, democracy and governance.
The economic position of the United States’ youngest generations has driven disillusionment with the political status quo. Right now, young people are experiencing the second ‘once in a lifetime’ economic crisis of their relatively short lives and the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic fallout is likely to hit them the hardest. However, when it comes to US foreign policy, these grim circumstances may also present a unique opportunity to create policies that better serve young Americans. Below, I lay out three such options.
Why are young Americans disillusioned?
Millennials and GenZers face a daunting future. They have encountered slower economic growth than any previous generation, including the so-called ‘silent’ generation, whose first 15 years in the workforce spanned the Great Depression and the Second World War. They are also facing ongoing economic upheaval as both the most debt-laden and well-educated generation in American history.
These economic realities bear grim long-term consequences. Homeownership, a vital source of generational wealth, is at a record low among millennials. Although it is too early to estimate the full impact of COVID-19 on America’s young workers, academic analyses of the 2008 recession suggest it will be significant and long-lasting. It will take decades for young people in the US to recover from these dual financial crises and even then a full economic recovery may not be enough.
Against this economic backdrop, it is unsurprising that America’s youngest generations are disillusioned with the status quo. Some evidence suggests that this disenchantment even extends to liberal democracy. Young Americans, for instance, are more likely to be sceptical of democracy than previous generations and approve of ‘strong leaders’ over ‘parliaments and elections’ at a greater frequency than older Americans. This ideological disenchantment goes hand-in-hand with a physical decoupling from government. According to the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service, only six per cent of US federal employees are under the age of 30. In 1975, that figure was over 20 per cent. In short, millennials and GenZers feel disconnected from the traditional pillars of US democracy and are increasingly absent from the policy process within government.
What can policy-makers do?
It is clear that younger Americans need to be re-engaged by the United States government both ideologically and in more literal terms. When it comes to US foreign policy, the COVID-19 pandemic may actually present a unique opportunity to make this shift. In order to do this, US foreign policy makers need to consider the following approaches.
1 Prioritize climate change. The current COVID-19 crisis is redefining what constitutes a national security threat. Global health has never been a traditional national security priority. You will not find it mentioned in the United States’ 2018 National Defense Strategy or in national security budgets. However, COVID-19’s deadly impact and economic disruption make it a clear national security problem. As COVID-19 widens the scope of national security threats to include issues like global health, there are new openings to prioritize climate change as a national security and foreign policy issue. In poll after poll, millennials and GenZers have affirmed that they see climate change as the single most important issue facing humanity. A heightened focus on climate change — which threatens military infrastructure, regional stability and resource-insecure populations — within the foreign policy establishment could appeal to younger Americans and bring a key national security issue to the policy forefront.
2 Trade policies that work for US workers. COVID-19 has drawn explicit connections between globalization and the well-being of American workers, creating a mandate for foreign trade policies that better reconcile national growth with the economic prosperity of young Americans. Workers aged 18–29 have been the hardest hit by the financial fallout of COVID-19, making this a priority will be particularly appealing to young people. In the coming years, policy-makers will have to address the economic risks laid bare by COVID-19, such as the evident vulnerability of US supply chains. Crucially, they will need to rethink US foreign trade policy on topics like trade agreements, foreign investment, international infrastructure projects and broader economic relations. Foreign trade policies that directly benefit domestic workers could prove critical in stabilizing the economic conditions of young Americans.
3 National service initiatives for young people. COVID-19 opens the door for new discussions about national service programmes. New or expanded national service initiatives could stimulate younger generations’ interest in government service while simultaneously providing them with employment and improved financial stability. The fight against COVID-19 could require 300,000 contact tracers, plus thousands of workers to stock food pantries, enforce social distancing regulations and clean public spaces. Young Americans could immediately fill these roles through national service programmes, while also contributing to longer-term public projects of immediate importance, such as national broadband. Larger domestic national service programs may have foreign policy payoffs — increased interest in government or military service and more accessible pathways to these careers. They also may trigger a corresponding expansion of internationally-oriented service programmes like the Peace Corps, which has clear benefits for global perceptions of the United States.
For the United States to meet its generational challenges, it needs policies with cross-generational appeal. As the country faces an unprecedented health emergency and renewed economic turmoil, there are unique opportunities to reorient foreign policy so that it better serves and better involves young Americans.
Dakota Foster is a JD candidate at Stanford Law School. She previously served as a Visiting Researcher at CSET and as a Fellow on Elizabeth Warren’s Presidential Campaign.
In August, International Affairs has teamed up with the Future Strategy Forum for the ‘Pandemic Politics’ series on US politics and the COVID-19 pandemic. This series is made possible by The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and the Bridging the Gap Project (BtG).
