In a commentary, RSIS Distinguished Visiting Fellow Adam Garfinkle wrote about the impact of the racially-charged civil unrest in the United States on the November election, how it will undermine military morale if the president orders military force to smother protests, and how it will further estrange Americans from supporting an active and constructive US role in global affairs. The “George Floyd” moment may therefore be justifiably counted as a significant historical inflection point, he added.

Adam Garfinkle is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.