Tom Clark
If the fi rst duty of the state is the safety of its citizens, then something that puts in jeopardy the safety of citizens everywhere is bound to have a bearing on the standing of states around the world.
Sure enough, just three months on from the pandemic being declared, its geopolitical ramifications are being felt. Diplomats report that the reputation of “the west” is in freefall in those many Asian states that have contained the virus better. On the continent, from public health to border control and the single currency, the strains of the crisis will require EU member states to hang more tightly together with closer co-ordination- or otherwise hang apart. (Anu Bradford and Bruno Maçães debate which of these two directions it is likely to go on p28.) Most palpable of all, however, is the sense of Chinese power waxing while American power wanes.