Even if the Democratic nominee for president—presumably Joe Biden, though that’s a whole discussion in itself—wins, civil violence would still have a purpose after Inauguration Day: to keep the Democratic Party on a Postmodern warpath. Although the Hydra does ultimately intend to destroy the Democratic Party, the institution remains useful for now and its establishment has chosen appeasement. If President Trump were to win reelection, it goes without saying—and I put the chances of reelection at 80 percent or greater. Compounding the volatility in either eventuality, the election results will be called into question. Both sides are already positioning themselves to cry “mail-in ballot fraud” or “foreign interference.” 

Stipulating that the population-wide fear of job loss dissipates at the end of spring—I expect that the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic will sufficiently lift around then—civil violence will carry on into the summer before ultimately being quashed before autumn, regardless of who occupies the White House.

Steph Umbert is Director of Membership at the Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC) and a Summer Research Associate for Korean Studies at the Center for the National Interest (CFTNI). Steph studied International Security Policy, International Conflict Resolution, and East Asian Studies at Columbia University's School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) as well as both Economics and Political Science at the University of Miami (UM) and George Washington University (GW). The opinions expressed here are not representative of any organization, of any group, or of any other individual.

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