The Covid-19 pandemic will diminish 'the nation'

The argument

No state will come out of the crisis without the help of others, and that dependence is what the argument expects to outlast the pandemic itself. A threat that no country can address on its own is a threat that makes the nation, acting alone, an inadequate unit — not as a matter of principle but as a matter of what actually works. International cooperation is being turned on its head in the process. States are working together through knowledge-sharing initiatives and collaborative decision making, and the direction of that sharing is itself notable: China paved the way by sharing its insights with Italy and other European countries as the virus spread. Expertise moved from wherever it happened to exist to wherever it was needed, rather than along the established lines of who customarily advises whom. In the face of the unknown, this kind of peer-learning is crucial to overcoming Covid-19, and the reason it cannot be optional is contained in the epidemiology: if the virus is not wiped out everywhere, no one is safe. Each state's security depends on outcomes inside other states, which is precisely the condition under which national self-sufficiency stops being an achievable goal. Analissa Izon at the Overseas Development Institute puts this well, explaining that "the unprecedented systemic challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis, and the responses we have already seen, will fast-track the transformation of an old paradigm of donor–recipient aid relations towards a model of international cooperation between all countries." The significance of that shift for the nation is structural. A donor-recipient model preserves the nation as the unit that either gives or receives; cooperation between all countries treats the problem as shared and the response as joint, which is how the pandemic diminishes 'the nation' as the frame through which such problems are answered.

Context

'Globalisation' has almost fallen out of favour as a term to describe the world order. And now it's back. As its hallmarks are taken away, the pandemic is revealing how important they are to modern life. Trade, travel, healthy economies - the key elements of day to day living are now being stripped away. As Dharmendra Khanani writes, "The impact of the virus throws into sharp focus that there is no such thing as a nation-state in full and sovereign control of its finances, trade and supply chains – it has effectively blown out the water arguments used by the populist governments and those spouting the rhetoric of ‘taking control’ of our borders, laws and economies. Even though countries are putting up their borders – the virus has shown it is borderless. It has exposed the reality of global, continent-wide and pan-regional supply chains – and how all economies rely on these."

Premises

Counter-arguments

The virus has set the scene for the rise of nationalism. As countries act in ways totally at odds with one another, and sacrifice cooperation for protecting their own, policy priorities have come sharply into view. This reversion reveals the differences between our nations, rather than create an opportunity for international cooperation. As Politics Professor Jan Zielonka says, "The coronavirus outbreak seems to be reversing the course of history. Gone is globalisation and European integration. Back is the heroic struggle of states for national survival."

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] Overcoming the coronavirus does not depend on international collaboration