The Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis And Its Impact On International Relations: Critical Reflections

Abstract

This paper is a critical reflection on the impact of the devastating Covid-19 pandemic on International Relations. It primarily aims to discuss both the positive and negative impacts of this pandemic on how countries related to and viewed one another as they frantically wrestled with their individual pressing health challenges. With the benefit of hindsight, it is now possible to cast our eyes backwards to establish how this global pandemic consolidated and at times reconfigured International Relations. Using the analytic and comparative approaches, the paper provides specific examples on how Covid-19 unwittingly and tacitly impacted upon relations among different countries. It argues that while some of the old relations were consolidated, others were reconfigured for the better or for the worst. Moreover, the paper argues that this pandemic came at the time when the bipolar world dominated by America and China was being replaced by a multipolar world. At the centre of these changing global political dynamics is the issue of power. Theoretically, the paper is grounded in two theories. These are realism and dependency theories. The paper concludes that while Covid-19 had devastating effects, it also reshaped International Relations and provided an opportunity to reflect on these for posterity.