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So populists will respond first with a denial of facts and responsibility, of how bad the situation is, Mr. Mounk said. Then theyre likely to admit its bad but pretend its all the fault of everyone else and that they have been fighting a valiant struggle against the virus all along.

Mr. Trumps decision to try to isolate the United States is not by itself irrational as an effort to slow the pace of the disease, said Franois Heisbourg, a French analyst, noting that Israel had taken even tougher action without criticism.

The problem is the way that Mr. Trump had aimed the ban at the European Union, which he has already labeled an economic foe, Mr. Heisbourg said, while allowing flights to continue from countries like Turkey.

That underlines the sense in the Europe Union that it is being opposed by three predators Russia, China and the United States, which all seek to destroy it, he said.

For Europe this is a very big moment, which requires faster action by states to lock down people, because the longer the delay, the worse the consequences, Mr. Heisbourg said. A pandemic carries the same logic as a war, and in war, its the results that count. The state is at the center, and its not a situation where the normal pace of democratic debate can handle the crisis.

Rates of infection are following the Italian pattern, and if Brussels and states do not respond more forcefully and faster with strong executive action, Mr. Heisbourg said, they are inviting larger trouble.

Then you leave the field to the populists and youre dead, because here the populists are right, he said. Even democracies behave more like authoritarians in a war.

See the article here:
Coronavirus Tests Europes Cohesion, Alliances and Even Democracy - The New York Times