The post-pandemic coronavirus policy will have both doses of nationalism and international cooperation, said Thursday (28) Ngaire Woods, dean of the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford and professor of global governance.
In a debate on how to rethink post-pandemic politics, promoted by the World Economic Forum, she said that, just like at the end of World War II, nations will be forced to “mend their backyards.” first ”before thinking about big projects.
“Leaders and governments will need to work with their partners in the economy to provide opportunities for their citizens while promoting international cooperation,” Woods said. For her, there are at least three areas in which this cooperation will be encouraged: in victory over the coronavirus, in investment for economic reconstruction and in humanitarian aid.
“We have already done this in a time of much more acute divisions, under the threat of a nuclear massacre,” he said, saying he was cautiously optimistic.
For journalist Martin Wolf, associate editor and senior business columnist for the British newspaper Financial Times, the world is going through one of its greatest challenges and the decisions taken by governments in the years to come will shape the world in a way. very deep. “This is one of those times when you create, remake or defeat the world order and the internal political order,” he said.
One of the big questions for Wolf, who coordinated the debate, is the prospect of China becoming the dominant power, taking the place of the United States. He argues that in many countries around the world the legitimacy of political and economic powers has been called into question and that it will not be trivial to restore confidence in governments in the shadow of an emerging power that has a system completely different from that of the western world.
A similar concern was expressed by David Rubenstein, co-founder and CEO of one of the world’s largest private equity groups, Carlyle. “The United States has retreated in its world leadership under Donald Trump and it will become more difficult to regain the American image after the world watches in horror the invasion of Congress,” he said.
Along with the US withdrawal, China has been effective in combating the pandemic and quickly regained its economic growth, which gives it an even better relative position in the world leadership, he said.
Rubenstein also pointed out that President Joe Biden’s administration will face sharp growth in inequality, to a degree that will not be easily addressed even with an economic recovery.
The increase in inequalities has been, according to Wolf, one of the main negative impacts of the pandemic: “The greatest loss of life has been recorded among the elderly, but the greatest economic losses are among women, minorities and the less qualified, reopening the abyss “. At the same time, according to him, “there is a lot of anger at both ends of the political spectrum” – among those who defend identity guidelines such as Black Lives Matter and on the far right – which makes it difficult. ‘a difficult government centrist.
The timing is “catalytic,” in the words of Lysa John Berna, director of Civicus, a non-governmental entity that promotes citizen participation in politics. “After a decade of discontent, people have reached a point where they have nothing to lose, and the pandemic, being a global phenomenon, has ended up connecting all the discontented in the system and fueling the movements,” he said. he says.
Although Wolf pointed out that China’s global influence, from a centralized government, could be an obstacle to the performance of civic movements, Berne said that they are organized very horizontally, with no central leadership or a single machine. which allows it to survive the pressure of authoritarian governments. .