The COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Environmental Discourse: the State, Civil Society, the Problems of Development

Abstract

This paper examines the response of political communities to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using methodological approaches such as political globalism, world-system and structural-functional analysis, the author examines the political conditions of nation-states for coping with the pandemic and its consequences. Within this framework, the problem of the systemic crisis of the modern state, the effectiveness of public administration and decision-making systems was also addressed. The focus was on issues of political development, considered in the context of the evolution of democracy, civic political participation, the role of non-governmental organisations and elites, and the relationship between values and goals in the global and national political agenda. The article also touches upon the problem of “infodemics.” The paper concludes with recommendations for adding an environmental component to the concept of national security.