2020
April
14
Tuesday

Monitor Daily Podcast

April 14, 2020
Error loading media: File could not be played
 
00:0000:0000:00
00:00

Our five selected stories today cover U.S. leadership in an election year, the paths to economic recovery, the return of minister-sharing, a visual history lesson on universal health care, and how nature collaborates to protect black rhinos

In the heat of the battle against COVID-19, we’re seeing leadership forged.

A compelling case can be made that women have had the most success, so far, in guiding their nations through this pandemic. Consider Germany, Taiwan, Iceland, Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, and Norway – seven nations with relatively low numbers of cases and deaths. We’ve published stories about German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s calm honesty, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s tech-savvy approach, and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s deft handling of the crisis. 

Consultant Avivah Wittenberg-Cox writes in Forbes that the success of these seven leaders lies in employing honesty, decisiveness, wise use of technology, and empathy. Norway’s prime minister, Erna Solberg, for example, held a televised press conference to address the fears of children. No adults allowed. Brilliant. 

The “empathy and care which all of these female leaders have communicated seems to come from an alternate universe,” a far cry from the self-serving autocratic moves by some male heads of state, writes Ms. Wittenberg-Cox.

Indeed, “Don’t command, empathize” is one of the seven leadership lessons that men can learn from women, according to a recent article in Harvard Business Review. 

Of course, some nations led by men – Singapore and South Korea – have managed this crisis well. But the HBR authors write that research – and now this pandemic – shows that instead of encouraging women to act like male leaders, men should be adopting some of the more effective leadership qualities commonly found in women. 

Hey guys, let’s watch and learn. 


You've read 3 of 3 free articles. Subscribe to continue.

Today's stories

And why we wrote them

For President Trump, the election is likely to hinge on his handling of the pandemic and the economy. His communication now, and in the months ahead, is largely framed by this political context.

The Explainer

What’s the right path to economic revitalization? Our reporter takes a concise look at some of the tough choices facing U.S. leaders.

Precedented

Lessons from history

COVID-19 revives an urgent call for universal health care

The coronavirus pandemic is putting new pressures on the U.S. health care system – and bringing fresh urgency to the debate over universal coverage. In this video we look at America’s long history with health care reform, and what we can learn from the role that crises play in fueling change. This is the second installment in a video series about how the past can help us understand, and face, the issues of the present. View the first in the series here

COVID-19 revives urgent call for universal health care

A deeper look

Ann Hermes/Staff
The Rev. Jay MacLeod of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church skis down the slope after holding a mountaintop mass at the Mount Sunapee ski resort in New Hampshire. Mr. MacLeod delivers sermons at two churches on the same day.

In Colonial days, pastors often served multiple congregations, traveling from church to church on horseback. Now minister-sharing is returning for another reason: It sustains and even invigorates worship at a time when fewer people are in the pews.

Martin Harvey/Photoshot/Newscom/File
A red-billed oxpecker sits on a black rhinoceros in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya.

Nature is replete with examples of symbiotic relationships. In Africa, our reporter finds that black rhinos are using cues from birds perched on their backs to avoid human poachers.


The Monitor's View

One of the world’s most popular treaties is the Chemical Weapons Convention, supported by 193 states. Last week, the agency charged with enforcing the treaty achieved a historic first. It directly attributed a series of poisonous gas attacks on civilians to a particular government – Syria’s – holding it accountable for violating a global norm against such an indiscriminate tool of war.

The 82-page report from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) did not receive much attention. The world is currently focused on a biological threat, COVID-19. Yet the detailed investigation of the Syrian military’s use of sarin and chlorine gas in 2017 is a breakthrough in how the world deals with the most dangerous substances. If leaders are now being held responsible for stopping the spread of the coronavirus, surely the Syrian regime can be held to account for inflicting deadly gases on innocent people during the country’s long civil war.

Both Europe and the United States are eyeing new sanctions on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad to stop further attacks in opposition strongholds. Past efforts by the West have been stymied at the United Nations by Russia, a close ally of Syria. With this new report, however, Russia’s obstruction tactics may be weakened.

Enforcement of the chemical weapons treaty has been uneven but generally successful. The OPCW has verified the elimination of 97% of the world’s declared chemical weapons. Now those types of weapons remaining in Syria need special attention by the international community.

Over the past century, as humans have tried to understand, use, and control the physical world, the more they have also expanded their understanding of their moral responsibilities. A key one is the universal right to life for innocent people during a conflict, enshrined in international agreements. Weapons of mass killing have no place in such a world. Pinpointing blame for their use is a giant step in that direction


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

When illness spreads, statistics play a big role in containment and information efforts, but they also stir fear. Here’s an article exploring a number the author has found particularly meaningful, even healing: the spiritual perspective that God, good, has 100% of the power. 


A message of love

Jane Barlow/PA/AP
A resident peers into the community food larder, set up by local residents using the old village phone box as a food collection and donation point, in Muthill, Scotland, April 14, 2020. Many people have been forced to use food banks to survive because of the social lockdown due to the pandemic.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris and Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thanks for joining us. Come back tomorrow: We’ll bring you a story about museums embracing teenagers as curators of new exhibits. 

More issues

2020
April
14
Tuesday
CSM logo

Why is Christian Science in our name?

Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that.

The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.

Here, you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.

Explore values journalism About us