We Must Learn From the Failed Global Response to COVID-19

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In the world of international affairs, non-traditional security threats are not new. Many of us have spent decades analyzing and conducting contingency planning for the sudden advent of developments like a pandemic. And yet, despite all the time and resources invested, the COVID-19 pandemic still caught the world woefully unprepared.

Beyond learning from the woeful manner in which this COVID-19 pandemic has been handled both nationally and internationally, there are several significant ramifications for global politics, the economy, and the U.S.-China relationship that warrant serious consideration.

First, COVID-19 has damaged global institutions while simultaneously strengthening the power of national governments. Without delving into a political debate, the WHO could have done much better in responding to the COVID-19 crisis than it did. Instead of the WHO taking the lead on effective early warning, establishing early mechanisms for global tracking and notifications, and coordinating global vaccine distributions, national governments have reasserted themselves as the only reliable mechanism to shield their citizens from harm. Indeed, across the board, on both the pandemic and the faltering economic recovery, we are witnessing the fundamental return of the nation state to the absolute forefront of international politics. This is a phenomenon that bears watching because COVID-19 has created new powers and potential new intrusions by the state into society, including new digital surveillance technologies that were previously the province of authoritarian political systems. This has implications not just for China, but also for democracies around the world.
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A byproduct of this burgeoning of the power of the nation state is the further rise of nationalism itself. This nationalism has primarily taken two forms: “COVID nationalism” and “vaccine nationalism.” With people around the world looking to their national and provincial…

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Source : time