For the past several months, the world has been dealing with one of the most serious global pandemics in history – COVID-19. One of the reasons the virus became so dangerous is how fast it spread across the globe. This global crisis has not only affected human lives, but also the economy and politics of developed and developing countries alike, thus affecting geopolitics in the process. Geopolitics is a type of politics especially in terms of international relations as influenced by geographical factors, these factors can be physical or human. What will geopolitics look like after COVID-19?
Geopolitics will be affected differently depending on the duration and depth of the crisis. The world will experience either more cooperation or more division among states or groups of states and this will go on for an undefined period. The pandemic is certainly going to affect the global order like the plague contributing to the rise and fall of great powers, this virus will also cause a significant shift in power in today’s world.
Nevertheless, as things are unfolding, a more divided world is what is anticipated according to some scholars. With less cooperation, there will be more rivalry among superpowers, for example, China and the United States. Rivalry is the first sign of a less cooperative world after COVID-19 and we can see it even today during the pandemic. Super powers such as China and the United States have been rivals for a while now; however, this rivalry seems to have intensified since the beginning of the pandemic, both economically and politically. Each wants to lead the world to recovery in order to increase their global political influence.
With less cooperation comes weak international relations; nations are counting on themselves to get through this pandemic. This every man for themselves attitude will create weak international relations between many nations since they have had to help themselves in critical moments like these, especially members of the European Union, such as Italy, Spain and others. This will likely lead to de-globalization.
On the other hand, there are other specialists or scholars who claim that the coronavirus crisis will push the international system towards cooperation rather than competition and conflicts. We can see that the cooperation is already in the making as we observe the flow of information, experiences, and mutual medical assistance among countries. They believe that the post-corona world will not tolerate competition, rather promote solidarity at the national and international level.
The world is facing a common enemy; each country should redefine its local interests at least during this pandemic, to make sure that they is in line with the rest of the world since we all have a common goal to achieve—eradicating the virus.
The only sure thing is that the coronavirus crisis is going to affect the global order one way or another. Whether international relations among the countries head towards more cooperation or more competition and conflicts, that is still an unsettled conclusion.
Ornella Ishimwe Gwiza
International Relations student at NEAR EAST University, Turkey