COVID-19 Response and International Relations: How it Relates to Political Science

Political Science Issue
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Political Science Issue
COVID-19 Response and International Relations
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted all nations, yet politics determined government response. The World Health Organization (WHO) endeavored to guide countries and recommend pandemic control (Davies & Wenham, 2020). The pandemic was both a political and public-health catastrophe as politics influenced how governments braced for and countered the crisis. Similarly, politics either harmed or aided Covid-19 containment, often independent of the stability of the health platform. Political disputes are not just confined to the domestic sphere as international bodies like the WHO operate in a competitive political atmosphere (Davies & Wenham, 2020). Conflicts between countries such as China and the U.S. occur within these organizations. Member states view the WHO as either highly partisan, favoring China, or not politicized.
Essential aspects of international relations dominated the Covid-19 pandemic, and coordination between countries and the WHO influenced the discourse. Dr. Tedros, the WHO Director-General, was careful to stress in 2020 that China was complying and that the WHO was not endorsing any country’s and corporations' punitive economic and travel restrictions against C...