‘Ally-shoring’ will help US rebuild economy and global leadership

Excerpt

Like a giant global pause button, the COVID-19 crisis has forced us to look hard at our world, our relationships with people and governments across continents. It has also made vivid the fragility of our health, political and economic systems.

While many of our political leaders now clamor for “on-shore” production of all essentials, a much better path, for both our economy and our foreign policy, is what we call “ally- shoring.” Ally-shoring describes a program of sourcing essential materials, goods and services with trusted friends, while disengaging from China and other states that seek to undermine American interests from critical supply chains.

Ally-shoring also provides an option to countries that would rather work with a Western-led trade and economic development regime. Ally-shoring can undergird the long-term economic success and stability of democracies across the globe.

Elaine Dezenski is managing partner at LumiRisk, LLC and senior adviser at the Center on Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. John Austin directs the Michigan Economic Center and is a nonresident senior fellow with the Brookings Institution and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.