An ideal world calls for togetherness in the time of a pandemic. Especially when the whole world is facing a crisis of enormous magnitude like COVID-19, countries should have buried their differences and come together for the sake of humanity. Yet, the reality stands in contradiction with this. There is hardly any sign of it happening around. Apart from a few positive examples, almost all the big powers are engaged in their geopolitical rivalry. Having a look at the modern world gives you a glimpse of how geopolitics is in practice in the crisis.
The great US-China rivalry
The United States and China have been engaged in an economic battle for the last couple of years. However, this rivalry has taken a torrid shape in the midst of Coronavirus pandemic. Being two of the richest states in the world, when their responsibilities should have been helping poor countries, they are busy blaming each other. Although we are unsure about the future of this rivalry, it seems not stopping any time soon.
China’s poor trust-building diplomacy
Coronavirus emerged from China, almost all the world knows. It has dented China’s image at the global stage. Instead of letting the world investigate its veracity, China blocked the US and Australian team of experts from entering Wuhan, the birthplace of COVID-19. It exported medical kits to India, Spain, Africa, etc., only to let them find some of the products in poor shape.
The story of Iran, Taiwan, and Africa
Iran and Taiwan are two of the highly unrecognised countries on the planet. While Iran is struggling to fight COVID-19 due to economic sanctions by the US, Taiwan seems helpless because of China’s No-Taiwan policy. Since the world is busy with its own COVID issues, the poor African continent has to rely on WHO and other organisations’ help.
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