What Alliances Do We Need in Perilous Times?

Moderated by Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times Columnist, and Joe Mathews, Zócalo Columnist and Democracy Local Founder

“We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors,” the general-philosopher Sun Tzu cautioned in The Art of War. In perilous times like our own, it’s easy to see that we need allies to protect ourselves from environmental degradation, violence, discrimination, and crime. It’s harder to know which alliances we can depend upon.

Russian expansionism and American isolationism have weakened NATO, the alliance protecting Europe and North America since World War II. Around the world, governing alliances are being torn apart by the rise of far-right and far-left parties. And the mutual aid alliances that local and global governments rely upon in emergencies face additional pressure from civil wars and natural disasters fueled by climate change—all at a time when social isolation has weakened our ties to neighbors and local institutions.

How can we combat these threats to the alliances that bind our communities together? What new alliances do we need to forge—in our neighborhoods, in our metro regions, and beyond—to rebuild our scarred communities as we undergo these unprecedented challenges? What risks do faltering alliances pose to our most vulnerable people and communities? And which alliances must we save to defend ourselves from the forces and people who would do us harm both overseas and within our own countries?

As coalitions, partnerships, and allegiances shift and emerge, Zócalo and an alliance of partners will convene two back-to-back panels to discuss how we might best ally to survive this moment in history. Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano will moderate the first panel, featuring a discussion about how alliances are rebuilding Los Angeles in the wake of January’s fires. And Zócalo columnist and Democracy Local founder Joe Mathews will moderate the second panel, featuring a discussion about state, national, and global governance as a new U.S. administration takes power.

Zócalo invites our in-person audience to continue the conversation with our speakers and each other at a post-event reception with complimentary drinks and small bites.

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