Pandemics push societies toward political violence, and the recent COVID years may have already set the US up for worse conflict ahead.

• History shows mass pandemics cause deep political splits, not just normal disagreement.
• Disease makes people fear each other and start seeing neighbors as enemies.
• The US 6-foot distancing rule is one example of how pandemics pushed people apart.
• This goes beyond regular political polarization into something called political fragmentation, which is far more extreme.
• The COVID pandemic may have planted the seeds for rising US political violence today.

Outlook: Expect more political violence and division in the US in the coming years as pandemic-era fragmentation keeps working through society.