While most at present are dealing full-time with the day-to-day impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, it is always valuable to have an eye toward the future. Stratfor's forecast for the 2020s was published just as the novel coronavirus was spreading beyond China's borders. Clearly, the pandemic and the national and international responses will have reverberating effects into the decade that we did not foresee. But just as our 2000-2010 Decade Forecast was disrupted by the events of 9/11, we expect the underlying geopolitical trends will shape the response to the virus — and the way history moves forward after it passes. COVID-19 in Context At the moment, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be the sole focus of the international system, the black swan event that has overtaken all other priorities and dominates capital cities, financial centers, the news cycle and social media.