Addressing COVID-19 during times of competitive politics and failed institutions

Abstract

In human history, pandemics have always had a significant impact on humans and civilizations. As shown in Thucydides’ discussion on the Peloponnesian wars, a plague that spread in the region forced people to move from rural areas to the city of Athens, which led to disturbance in the balance of power and political turmoil. He even went as far as to claim that the plague changed the grand strategy of the Athenians from one of prudence to a reckless ambition that eventually triggered its decline [1]. Pandemics were also crucial (among other factors) in the Roman empire’s collapse [2]. Yellow fever limited Napoleon’s expansion plans in the western hemisphere out of Haiti, and Typhus devastated his Russian campaigns [1]. In another region, the native population of the Americas was wiped out not by fire alone but by the diseases brought by the Spanish explorers from Europe. In our modern history, the influenza pandemic of 1918 had devastating global effects not just because of the virulence of the disease but also because of technological and political factors, including the development of transportation, that facilitated people’s movement and hence the pandemic spread. HIV/AIDS in the eighties transformed the conversation around LGBT communities and helped usher in the new security-based perspective to deal with global health and infectious diseases. In this new frame, infectious diseases are given priority due to their impact not only on health but also on security. Health issues are perceived as security threats, and nations respond to them strategically in accordance with their security agenda and not necessarily through public health focus [3]