-SHIVANI KANAUJIA (CORRESPONDENT)
Just when the world as one “global village” was pondering over solutions to problems like climate change and global economic slowdown, there came yet another crisis in the form of the COVID pandemic that has given a new definition to the world disorder and its disruptions. This global crisis has not only revealed many flaws in the structure of global governance as a whole but has also shown us that this crisis is neither the “first global bug to have bitten us” nor it will be the last; lessons have been learnt and more are yet to come.
Among the many other disruptions in the world order, the Coronavirus pandemic has exposed the three most important. First, the waning legitimacy of International institutions and their inability to take strong steps against national sovereignties. For instance, the response of WHO to the outbreak and the way it tackled Chinese involvement, in this case, marks a strong point against global institutions that are now being criticized for their lack of independent representation and leadership and their subservience under political powers of the world. Second, the crisis has raised questions of how far the nations should be allowed sovereignty and protection against international intervention. Experts are raising their eyebrows on the Chinese government’s decision to conceal the outbreak at initial stages so as to keep their global image intact. Had global governance worked efficiently without any pressures relating to the policy of no intervention and the Chinese image of the global economy, the pandemic could have been controlled on time. Beijing, meanwhile, is trying to play the saviour card by supplying medical equipment and support to Italy.
The third and probably the most important question mark that this crisis brought to light, is of the present-day capitalist society. Famous Economist Mariana Mazzucato believes that capitalism is facing three major setbacks. She points out how the pandemic-induced health crisis has exposed the economic inequality across the world with the yet to be known consequences related to global financial instability in post-pandemic times. While the world if yet again stands polarised in terms of health care facilities, the climate healing process has given it a ray of hope for a better tomorrow. Nations with poor health care facilities are the most vulnerable amongst the victims of the flaws of capitalism. Many experts comment on this class divide as the crisis of the decade and are of the opinion that “Poor nations with weak health systems are drowning in debt, while rich nations are showing they can unlock trillions to build new hospitals and keep their economies alive.” If seen as a humanitarian crisis, this pandemic takes an even more frightening shape in conflict zones and refugee camps. A study by Oxfam reveals that in areas like Syria, Lebanon, etc, there is only one doctor per 25,000 people and there are many settlements in such places where social distancing is impossible due to population density and unavailability of clean water and sanitization.
However, the fact that almost all the powerful economies of the world are the epicentre of this virus reveals that ‘there are goods and services that must be placed outside the laws of the market.’ The need of the hour is coordinated and the massive response from all the global players, including state and non-state actors, especially in the fields of health-care and medicinal research. An immediate moratorium on debt interest payments for developing nations without conditions should be agreed upon in all bilateral/multilateral forums. In his statement at the G20 summit that took place virtually on 25 March 2020, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said “The high costs that public health measures are imposing today are necessary to avoid much more tragic consequences and even worse impacts on our economies tomorrow. Millions of deaths and collapsed health care systems will decimate us financially and as a society, so slowing this epidemic and saving human lives must be governments’ first priority.” Thus, laying down the principle of ‘Human lives First’ in the times when foreign policy is being dominated by such trade based policies including India’s most famous ‘Neighborhood First’.
Adding to it, international institutions need to assume the role of supervising and guiding authority in times like this without actually getting influenced by budget and political pressures. They need to finally step to the forefront to address the cases and causes of human rights violations across the globe. So far there is no medicine to counter this deadly disease and this fact makes it all more important for the international community to ensure that information and statistics related to the spread of disease should not be concealed by the governments, like China’s initial response to COVID-19.
The crisis has opened up the way for many debates on the much anticipated economic crisis that will follow the present humanitarian crisis. The private sector will be bearing most of the brunt with a really severe decline in the tourist and entertainment sectors in particular. According to the latest OECD estimates presented in the G20 Summit, “the lockdown will directly affect sectors amounting to up to one-third of GDP in the major economies. For each month of containment, there will be a loss of 2 percentage points in annual GDP growth. The tourism sector alone will face an output decrease as high as 70%. Many economies will fall into recession.” However, it still needs to be taken into account that continuing fighting the pandemic should be the topmost priority now.
The coronavirus outbreak, in a nutshell, is the alarming reminder of the consequences of the divisions in the world order. It serves the purpose of giving the international community the blunt warning that neglecting the global responsibilities amidst the glamorous state-market flourishing duo comes with its own challenges. The world, as it is popularly called ‘the global village’ is in the dire need of sustained humanitarian and collective response while tackling this invisible enemy called COVID-19. This crisis will certainly leave us all behind with many harsh lessons to be learned and relearned.
REFERENCES :
- Mazzucato, Mariana (2020). World Economic Forum [online]. Available at : https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-covid19-business-economics-society-economics-change
- Rettner, Rachael (2020). Livescience [online]. Available at : https://www.livescience.com/can-covid-19-be-crushed.html
- Vera, Chema (2020). World Economic Forum [online]. Available at : https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/coronavirus-developing-countries-inequality-debt-oxfam/
- Oxfam Media Briefing (2020). Oxfam [online]. Available at : https://oxfam.app.box.com/s/d6ogo3gl7pia7yn5po1iv6y9px40n8r9
- Jha, Hari Bansh (2020). ORF [online]. Available at : https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/global-cooperation-is-the-key-to-tackle-and-control-coronavirus-63403/
- Tharoor, Shashi; Saran, Samir (2020). ORF [online]. Available at : https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/the-new-world-disorder-63803/
- Gebrekidan, Selam (2020). The New York Times [online]. Available at : https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/world/coronavirus-world-health-organization.html
- Report : New OECD outlook on Global economy (2020). OECD [online]. Available at : https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/en/
