We will witness the rise of a new order where globalisation wouldn’t be the most inspired feature
ISLAMABAD: It is 2020 and our world is very different from the twentieth century world. The end of WWII not only changed the world map but it also gave birth to new paradigms. Liberalism, liberal internationalism, economic interdependence and globalisation became the new norms of the world in the late 20th and 21st century. Globalisation, the most inspired idea of the 21st century, made the new world a global village where everything — from ideologies to cultures and from politics to economies — is shared.
Covid-19, with which we started our new year, has spread to every corner of the globalised world. From Asia to Africa and Europe to America, more than 1,080,846 people are infected with the virus, 58,127 have died and 227,685 have recovered. Our world has witnessed pandemics like the Spanish flu in 1918-20, the Asian flu pandemic in 1957-58, AIDS and Swine Flu in 2009-10. All these pandemics did not result in any major shift in the political and economic trends of the world. But Covid-19 is entirely a different case not only in its genetic makeup but also the way it has affected the world.
How the world responded to the threat of Covid-19 has been completely different from past. The virus has closed the borders of countries and confined the residents of earth into their homes. Within two months of the outbreak, half of the world’s population is under lockdown or strict curfew. The pandemic has changed the global order and has broadly affected the social and economic interdependence of states.
After Covid-19 the world won’t be same. We will witness the rise of a new order where globalisation wouldn’t be the most inspired feature, and populism and nationalism would replace the liberal ideas. In my views, the virus has proved to be the last nail in the coffin as it has completely shattered the existing world paradigms and shown how vulnerable they are in the face of a worldwide threat. Covid-19 has created a strange, unexpected and extraordinary situation and we should all be careful about future changes.
Mamoona Mahmood
Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2020.
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