How "international" is the Covid fight so far?

One of the major questions being asked in the context of Covid 19 is whether internationalism, international cooperation and international governance did not deliver. Were responses, solutions and remedies essentially national and sub-national? Was the fight against the pandemic taken up by national governments, developed and developing rather than international organisations?

In this piece, Kai He, argues that international anarchy has resulted in sub-optimal responses in fighting the epidemic medically, in terms of keeping borders open or crafting responses to the pandemic. Looking at the WHO, UNSC, G20 the author argues that the international community must rise to the occasion and counter the pandemic's devastating consequences.

International organisations have so far failed to rise to the occasion in fighting the pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) has functioned as a ‘clearing house’ to offer the most authoritative information but has no power to extract information nor to enforce regulations in any country. What it can do is to issue health advice to the world based on the information voluntarily provided by member states. The anarchic nature of international politics encourages self-interested behaviour that leads to the WHO’s warnings and advice being largely ignored by many countries.

One institution that might have collective power above states is the UN Security Council (UNSC), but it has remained silent on the war against COVID-19. One possible reason is that the pandemic is not a traditional security threat that the UNSC is accustomed to dealing with. But the radio silence of the UNSC might also reflect the deep divide inside the institution itself.

The G20 appeared to carry more hope than the United Nations in coping with COVID-19 but its statement appeared only declaratory in nature. No country is stepping up to exercise much-needed leadership in the G20. To make things worse, the deepening rivalry between the United States and China has curbed concerted efforts in global governance to fight COVID-19.

The fight against Covid would be successful with a combination of local, national and international efforts. To what extent and what degree each of them will play a role depends on the flexibility such measures will have to combat the pandemic. National governments are answerable to their constituencies. The representative character gets stronger as we go lower down the level. The responsibility and response so far has undoubtedly weighed in favour of the local in this fight so far.