Loughborough University London’s Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance have created a series of mini-lectures that discuss the effects of Covid-19 on a national and global scale. The lectures have been distributed to students providing weekly video content that pose pivotal questions and encourage students to consider the implications of a global pandemic on politics and the economy.

Dr Cristian Nitoiu: Covid-19 and the World Order

Two months ago, the world order was mostly centred around the struggle between the western world and the non-western world. The world order has been created and populated by a wide range of views about the way in which the world order should be organised, what should be the main values or the main ideas that should characterise the behaviour of states and international organisations.

The arrival of Covid-19 has meant a lot of things have changed, not only domestically in the way we live our lives but also in the way States behave within the world order as well as the world order as a whole. The coronavirus has bought states and societies together in an unprecedented manner, it has seen states imitating one another, waiting on other countries to lead the way in making tough decisions. Other states have adopted what we may have referred to as authoritarian policies a few months ago to curb the liberties of people.

As the world order increasingly adopts a more monolithic belief in science, the importance of international organisations such as the World Health Organisation grows and there is a move away from the pluralistic approach which has previously characterised the world order, we begin to see numerous political shifts happening globally.

In the second part of the mini-lecture series, Dr Christian Nitoiu discusses the global response to Covid-19 and how, despite stark differences between states, a ‘one size fits all’ approach has been adopted internationally. Dr Nitoiu considers the positions of international organisations within the world order and the increasing importance of the impact conspiracy theories have on the world order.

Watch the video

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