The Contradictions of COVID-19 and the Persistence of Western Hegemony

ABSTRACT Crises brought about by COVID-19 have provided us with a key set of observations about global power in an era where international relations scholars are close to coming to a consensus in acknowledging the decline of Western and specifically American hegemony. This paper adopts a decolonial approach to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on international politics. It argues that throughout much of the Western world, COVID-19 has marked one of the first unexpected encounters with death that populations have faced since World War II and the pre-poliomyelitis vaccine era. As a result, global health policies mandated by the WHO have been articulated in favour of the West. Statistical analysis of death tolls brought about by COVID-19, numerous other infectious diseases and viruses along with associated geographic patterns reveal that quarantine and lockdown policies were carried out at the expense and wellbeing of much of the developing world. Contrary to popular contemporary arguments that contend the international liberal order is in decline, the emergence of COVID-19 and subsequent global health policy responses have demonstrated that Western hegemony and soft power are still salient.