Article

The Shifting Geopolitics of Asia-Pacific Journal of Management

Research and Innovation

Coronavirus and the Demise of

17(1–2) 85–94, 2021
© 2021 Asia-Pacific
Institute of Management
Neoliberalism with the Big Challenge Reprints and permissions:
in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india
for United Nations DOI: 10.1177/2319510X21999472
journals.sagepub.com/home/abr

Mintu Jana1 and Taniya Roy1

Abstract
The world is facing a new geopolitical challenge in the pandemic caused by the spread of COVID-19. The world economy has shrunk
by about 3%. The trade war between the United States and China and their defensive agreements with other countries was already a
huge problem, but it has reached a critical stage due to COVID-19. The United States has filed multiple lawsuits against China, alleging
that they purposely released the Coronavirus. The objective of this article is to examine the shifting geopolitics, focusing on international
economic and defensive relationships among countries, and especially on the Second Cold War between the United States and China.
In this pandemic situation, more countries are facing economic downturn and loss of human life. A new geopolitical journey has been
started, which is based on the availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medical products. All previous problems that had
not yet been solved by the United Nations have become fresh challenges. Another big challenge is the demise of neoliberalism in the
world. Bureaucratic wars have started in the interregional and intraregional zones, and the Second Cold War has started between the
United States and China. A major finding of this article is the significant correlation between the death rate of different countries and
the shift of geopolitics to a critical stage.

Keywords
Personal protective equipment (PPE), United Nations, demise of neoliberalism, bureaucratic war, the Second Cold War

What Is Geopolitics? chronologically, we are able to understand the shifting

Robert Kaplan argues that geopolitics is the study of the
outside environment faced by every State when determining
its own strategy (Scholvin, 2016). Nicholas Spykman very
importantly wrote on geopolitical thinking and concept:
‘Ministers come and go, even dictators die, but mountain
ranges stand unperturbed’. Spykman said that geographical
condition is one type expression of physical reality that
states face and is decisive for international relations
(Scholvin, 2016). Christopher Fetteish argues in an article
published in the journal Orbis that geopolitics suffers from
major descriptive, prescriptive and predictive deficiencies
(Scholvin, 2016). Yet several scholars adhere to geopolitical
studies on international relations (Scholvin, 2016). Friedrich
Ratzel described geopolitics as having developed from two
branches of geography: Political Geography and
Anthropogeography. Both terms were introduced by Ratzel
in the 19th century (1844–1904). When we study geopolitics
geopolitical condition based on most valuable resources.
Both natural and human resources are strongly built into the
national economy and are two of the major factors
responsible for the shifting geopolitics. Geopolitics deals
with the relationships and interactions between spaces,
states, civilizations, peoples and economics. In a broad
sense, geopolitics is the study of international relations.
International relations only deals with the relationship
between countries. Geopolitics focuses not only on
international relations but also relations between cultures
and peoples, all in relation to their geographic locations.
Some important geopolitical terms include Sea Power,
Land Power, Rimland, Inner Crescent, Outer Crescent,
Heartland and World Island. All these concepts best describe
how much power is achieved by States based on their
geographical location. In recent times, geopolitical views
have shifted from older concepts (such as geographical
location, demographics and climate) to fulfilling the basic

1 Department of Geography, Bajkul Milani Mahavidyalaya, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India.

Corresponding author:
Mintu Jana, Department of Geography, Bajkul Milani Mahavidyalaya, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal 721655, India.
E-mail: janamintu6@gmail.com
86 Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation 17(1–2)
amenities of human beings in the current pandemic
situation. We have known that ‘Heartland’ and ‘Rimland’
theories refer to broad concepts that point to countries that
act as leaders and control other countries due to their strong
position. World geopolitics is necessary in the conduct of
war and in dealing with debatable situations in the world.
Geopolitics in the Past
Aristotle stated that geopolitics decides the political system.
He gave the best example of the political system of Greek
city-states and their neighbouring empires and tribes vis-à-
vis the climatic conditions. German Geographer Fredrich
Ratzel conceptualised State as to be growing like an
organism. Rudolf Kjellen, a Swedish colleague of Ratzel,
coined the term geopolitics. He defined geopolitics as the
science of the States as a life form, based on economic,
demographic, political, geographical and social factors
(Scholvin, 2016). American and British scholars are mostly
of the opinion that geopolitics is a long-term course of
international relations in terms of geographical condition
(Scholvin, 2016).
Geopolitics in the Present
Geographers worldwide are interested in studying the
changing nature of geopolitics from a previous condition to
a recent one and are mostly of the opinion that geopolitics is
shifting from international relations to constructivism.
Robert Kalpan’s book The Revenge of Geography described
the geographical condition that is better understood as
geographical physical aspects and reality (Scholvin, 2016).
Figure 1.  Scientific Principles of Classical Geopolitics.
Source: Scholvin (2016).
Michael Klare’s books Resource Wars, Blood and Oil, and
Rising Power, Shrinking Planet help better understand
geopolitical aspects of shifting in the present time (Scholvin,
2016). Since the late 1980s, Colin Gray, who wrote that
‘political behaviour of a country’s history is in great part the
product of geographical settings’, argues the interaction of
States with constraints and opportunities that stem from
geographical accounts for strategic culture in society, and
pattern of foreign policy (Scholvin, 2016). Other scholars,
Jakub Grygiel and Saul Cohen, believe that geopolitics is
dynamically shifting because of conflicts and deficiency of
resources (Scholvin, 2016).
Figure 1 shows the Scientific principles of classical
geopolitics: Here location and physical geography, being
influenced by technology, are the conditions that explain
outcomes such as national power, security threats and
(direction of) national expansion. The misleading tracts of
German geopolitics are omitted here.
Figure 2 brings together the actual ideas of contemporary
geopolitics. Its proponents stress the relevance of anthropo-
geographical conditions and intervening variables much more
clearly than their ancestors from the classical branch did.
Chronologically Shifting
Geopolitics and Its Different
Subjects
The geopolitical implications should be considered
secondary to health and safety (Campbell & Doshi, 2020).
In 1956, the power of the British declined after the Suez
Canal crisis and ended the United Kingdom’s reign as a
global power in the world. In present times, the United
Jana and Roy 87
Figure 2. Scientific Principles of Contemporary Geopolitics.
Source: Scholvin (2016).
States is unable to act like a global superpower and handle
the pandemic. They find it very challenging to fulfil their
obligations towards their own citizens and are unable to
provide help to other countries. The loss in America’s power
is similar to what the British faced during the Suez Canal
crisis. This is a good example of global leadership’s
tendency to change gradually. In the past seven decades, the
United States has been a world leader, not only in terms of
its wealth and power but also in terms of governance,
provision of global public goods, and the ability and
willingness to muster strength and coordinate a global
response to any crisis in the world. In the current pandemic
situation, Washington is failing in the three key parameters
for a true world leader. China is moving quickly to take
advantage of the opening created by United States’ mistakes
by filling the vacuum and positioning itself as the global
leader in the response to the pandemic (Campbell & Doshi,
2020). A number of political and international observers
and Western military officials have claimed that there is a
strong link between the coronavirus and a research that has
been conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology
(Mohammed, 2020), The economic war between the United
States and China is moving to a critical phase. The whole
world is aware of the Cold War of the 20th century between
the erstwhile USSR and the United States. Previously, the
term geopolitical meant the political conduct of
neighbouring states based on the international relations
within the States and on geographical features such as land
and waterbody. The United States and other countries,
including Australia, United Kingdom, India, Taiwan,
Vietnam, Israel and Japan, have filed lawsuits against China
with regard to the origins of the coronavirus and related
deaths. American President Donald Trump used the term
‘China virus’ to refer to the coronavirus. America has
recorded the highest COVID-19 deaths so far. As of 13 May
2020, there were 80,695 deaths from COVID-19 and 33.5
lakh people were infected with the virus. Every country is
trying to meet its demand for medical supplies as well as
material needed to create the vaccine. We know that a third
of the world’s total industrial products come from China.
We also know that China is the second-largest economy in
the world. So, China has been the biggest competitor of the
United States. China and the United States have been
involved in a trade war since 1970. The coronavirus had
originated in China, and China had initially hidden this
knowledge about the virus from the rest of the world. The
Second Cold War is forming an extreme rift between these
two countries, which is affecting the rest of the world as
well. This is creating a critical shift in the geopolitics of the
world.
Methods
This article is a descriptive research paper that is built upon
the observation of previous and present conditions of the
geopolitical situation. The current state of international
relations can be analysed through national and international
news. This article builds on our observation and critical
evaluation of world geopolitics and of the different
countries’ economic and military relations. We evaluate the
political relationship of different groups of countries, for
instance, the relationships between the United States and
88 Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation 17(1–2)
Russia, the United States and China, the United States
and Iran, the United States and Turkey, Australia and China,
and India and China. Descriptive research methodology can
use both qualitative and quantitative research. The current
geopolitical situation is of a daily critical condition due to
the pandemic. We have seen international news that discuss
the economic conflict between Western countries and
China. In this pandemic situation, the geopolitics is shifting
and modifying based on important events in the world. We
have observed a great geopolitical shift happening
dynamically due to lack of personal protective equipment
(PPE) and vaccination.
Objectives
The major objectives of this article are to assess the
weakened economic and nuclear treaties that have been
affected by this shifting geopolitical behaviour and to study
the relationship between different groups of countries in the
world. We also attempt to assess the cause and effect
relationship of shifting geopolitics surrounding the
international relationship between different countries in the
world. Finally, we aim to understand the changing
geopolitics in relation to the economic and defensive the
Second Cold War between the United States and China.
Demise of Neoliberalism
The coronavirus pandemic has revealed the most cynical
aspects of neoliberalism (Mohammed, 2020). A capitalism
versus coronavirus war can be seen already in the highly
infected countries in the world (Mohammed, 2020).
Neoliberalism can be defined as involving ‘the priority of
the price mechanism, free enterprise, the system of
competition, and a strong and impartial state’. It means a
modern economic policy that is applicable to all states in
the world. It is an economic concept that bridges various
subjects, such as politics, social studies, and economics,
and that seeks to transfer control of economic factors, such
as control of the South China Sea, from the public sector to
the private sector. The trends were moving away from
government spending, regulation, and public ownership
worldwide towards free-market capitalism.
COVID-19 has greatly affected human life and destroyed
the healthy economies of different countries. Under the
various lockdowns conditions, production in industries and
trade between countries are being stopped for a number of
days in different countries. Many countries are having to
make decisions on how to save human lives by the use of
PPEs and other medical equipment.
A report released by the Nairobi-based charity ahead
(Coronavirus Impact: COVID-19 may push half million people
into poverty, says Oxfam-Title) of next week’s International
Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank annual meeting calculated
the impact of the crisis on global poverty due to shrinking
household incomes or consumption. (Strohecker, 2020)
In the two decades since 1999, the number of people living
in extreme poverty worldwide has fallen by more than 1
billion people. Part of this success in reducing poverty is set
to be reversed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the
January 2021 forecast, we now estimate between 119
million and 124 million additional poor globally with
around 60% living in South Asia. The increase in the
number of poor is also visible at the $3.20 poverty line. At
the $3.20 line, the number of global new poor using the
GEP-baseline scenarios has increased from 175 million to
228 million (from June 2020 to January 2021), again driven
by South Asia. At the $5.50 line, there is no worsening of
the global estimate, as the new estimates actually lie within
the range estimated using the June GEP. This is largely
explained by a better than expected outlook for East Asia
and the Pacific, counteracting the upward revision in South
Asia.1 The fallout from the spread of the coronavirus that
has killed more than two million people and wreaked havoc
on economies around the world has pushed around half-a-
billion people into poverty.
So, these pandemic situations are a big challenge to
neoliberalism. All international policies implemented
between different states are facing many big challenges.
Trade and tariff-related policies of different countries are
experiencing a breakdown in their implementation, which
has made it challenging to maintain sustainable trade policies.
The United States has is currently developed a very strained
relationship with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Former U.S. President Donald Trump had cut their funding
to the WHO, accusing it of becoming China-centric during
the ongoing coronavirus pandemic (Daily Excelsior, 2020).
China provided $30 million of funding to the WHO after
President Trump had frozen their funding.
United Nation and Geopolitics
The main objective for setting up a universal body like
the United Nations was the prevention of war and the
maintenance of peace in disputed areas. Since the end of the
Second World War in 1945, the United Nations has been
monitoring the geopolitical conditions in the world. They
created a universal code of law and adjudicate in instances
of conflict within and between states. A total of 193
countries are currently members of the United Nations.
After the Second World War, it is the only international
governing body that provides solutions for conflicts,
proposes various international laws and provides a means
for seeking out justice. But the United Nations has failed
several times across the world, mostly because of the right
to veto that has been given to five countries.
Take, for instance, the Israeli occupation (1948–Present)
that has been going on since the creation of the Jewish State
Jana and Roy 89
in 1948. Palestinians have been fighting against what a
United Nations investigator once described as Israel’s
ethnic cleansing. Between 1947 and 1949, as many as
15,000 Palestinians were killed and some 750,000 out of a
total population of 1.9 million were forced to take refuge far
from their homelands. A second war was fought between
2000 and 2014, which cost the lives of 7,000 Palestinians
and 1,100 Israelis. Today, Israel controls 85% of the historic
region of Palestine. The United Nations Security Council
has tried to create a resolution for condemning Israel several
times but has failed to pass such a resolution due to a veto
by the United States. The United States has used its veto
powers several times to save Israel for their self-interest.
Another situation is that of the Kashmir dispute—one of
the greatest human rights crises in history, which is marked
by wanton killings, rape, incarceration of leaders and
activists, torture and disappearances of Kashmiris, which
continue to happen despite several unimplemented UN
resolutions over the issue. The region of Kashmir went into
a civil war with the dissolution of the British Indian rule and
the creation of two countries, namely India and Pakistan.
Kashmiri Muslims chose Pakistan as their state, while
Hindu Kashmiris chose to be included in India. The
rebellion by several Muslim groups in Indian administered
Kashmir, seeking either a merger with Pakistan or
independence, has gained momentum after 1989. At least
68,000 people have been killed by Indian security forces
since then. Pakistan and China have always failed to get a
UN resolution passed for a solution since the United States
and France have used their veto power against any such
resolution.
Another situation was the violence that broke out in
Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The Khmer Rouge
regime tried to take over Vietnam and create an ultra-
Communist state. About two million people were killed in
this conflict—about 25% of the total population. The
Vietnamese prayed for an intervention that would end this
genocide by the Khmer Rouge regime. But the United
Nations recognised the Khmer Rouge regime as a legitimate
government, ignoring the concerns of human rights violations.
The Somali civil war is another important example of
human rights violation. The United Nations failed to stop
the civil war caused by the Somali Rebellion in 1991.
Similarly, the Rwandan civil war that took place in 1994
is also a situation where the United Nations failed. This
civil war was between the Rwandan Armed Forces and the
rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). It began in 1990 and
ended in 1994. About three months into the war, the ethnic
group called the Hutus brutally murdered about 800,000
Tutsis and raped nearly 250,000 women in Rwanda. But the
United Nations troops abandoned the victims of this
genocide or merely acted as spectators while the horrific
and brutal violence raged on.
Another situation was the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq
from 2003 to 2011. One million Iraqis died as a result of
the conflict. The United Nations Resolution 1483
attempted to legitimise the invasion that was carried out
by the United States and the United Kingdom under the
false assertion that the Saddam regime owned weapons of
mass destruction.
Another situation was the Syrian civil war that started in
2011 and continues till date. Here, President Bashar al
Assad of Syria claimed that he would ‘relentlessly fight
terrorist groups’—referring to the pro-democracy protesters.
The Syrian Ba’athist government is politically and militarily
supported by Iran and Russia and is actively supported by
the Lebanese Hezbollah group. Russia and Iran support the
Syrian government, but the United States support Syrian
democratic forces. Other countries such as Turkey as well
as groups such as Hezbollah and ISIS are directly involved
in this civil war. The United States and Russia support two
different groups. The United Nations have passed several
resolutions to find a solution to these wars. But Russia has
used its veto power several times in support of Bashar al
Assad.
Another crucial situation is the Rohingya crisis in
Myanmar that started in 2017. Rohingya Muslims have had
to flee to refugee camps in Myanmar, Bangladesh and India.
The disputes and wars in these countries took place over
a long time—often times several years. A great number of
people suffers and lose their life and residence. All the
disputes mentioned here are the best examples of the failure
of the United Nations.
Refuge and Homelessness
Refuge and homelessness are two major problems in the
world. Refugees are victims of social crime in their nation
and are known as those who have lost their identity
because of circumstances leading to a community being
removed from their home country by means of persecution
by another community. About 70.8 million people around
the world have been forced to flee their homeland due to
violent conflicts. Countries such as Syria, Afghanistan,
South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia are historically
suffering from refugee problems. Those people are facing
hunger and poverty, and they require the help of other
countries to fulfil their basic needs. The United Nations
are facing many challenges that are caused by the refugee
problem across the world. One of these challenges is the
survival of the 70.8 million refugees during the global
pandemic and giving them access to PPEs and medical
facilities. They are faced with increased social vulnerability
in the refugee camps during the pandemic. A large number
of people have died in these refugee camps due to the lack
of proper medical facility and basic amenities. This is one
of the biggest geopolitical issues currently being faced by
the world, and it affects many different countries and
interests groups.
90 Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation 17(1–2)
Debate on the Origin of
Coronavirus
One of the larger question being faced by the world is about
the origins of the coronavirus. The United States has
claimed that the virus originated in a biochemical lab in the
Wuhan province in China. During a television interview,
former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that there
was ‘significant amount of evidence that the virus originated
from a laboratory in Wuhan’ (The Hindu, 2020a). However,
Dr Mike Ryan, a top emergency expert of the WHO, told
the United Nations that they have not received any data-
specific evidence from the United States related to the
origin of this virus and opined that this was still speculative.
The United States and Australia have been demanding
an independent investigation into the origins of the
coronavirus outbreak, especially after claims that it
originated from a Wuhan laboratory, even though these
claims were unsubstantiated. The WHO said that it is
hoping to get an invitation from China to take part in its
investigations. But China’s Socialist government has denied
this allegation and claimed that the Wuhan fishing market is
the main source of the virus. Other countries such as Italy,
France, Germany, Spain, Russia, the United Kingdom and
India have stopped the import of PPE from China because
of the allegations against the country. China’s state media
has claimed that U.S. politicians are trying to redirect the
blame on China so that they can make excuse for the mess
they have created with their domestic anti-COVID efforts.
Experts say that the SARS-CoV-2 virus had originated
from bats. It made the shift to humans at one of Wuhan’s
open-air ‘wet markets’ (WebMD, 2020). Wuhan fishing
markets are popular and well known for selling wild or
banned species such as cobra, wild boar and raccoon dogs.
Still, the Wuhan market did not sell bats at the time of the
outbreak. Hence, early suspicion also fell on pangolins, also
called scaly anteaters, which are sold illegally in some
markets of China (Tabriz, 2020). Virologists believed that
the virus originated in pangolins because the coronavirus
that infects pangolins is similar to SARS-CoV-2. Now, the
whole world is focused on finding and distributing vaccines
that would destroy the virus in the human body. The entire
world is waging war with a single common enemy—the
coronavirus. After the discovery of vaccines that have
helped control human death, the world has started
demanding an investigation into the laboratories in Wuhan.
There is no evidence to specify where the virus originated,
but these allegations between countries have given rise to a
Cold War-type situation between the United States and
China.
Loss of Human Life
The COVID-19 virus attacks the whole human body—the
respiratory system, vascular system, gastrointestinal
system, particularly the lungs, heart, kidney and the immune
system. Every critical patient is using a ventilator machine
to help breathe as their lungs are affected. According to data
from WHO, provided by various national authorities, as of
15 May 2020, there have been 4,248,389 confirmed positive
cases and 292,046 deaths caused by the virus. The two
regions most affected were the continent of Europe and the
country of the United States—there were 109,121 deaths in
the United States and 161,413 in the European continent.
The United States has the highest death count among all
countries. No one knows exactly when the spread of the
virus will be contained and the mortality rate of this virus
will start to decrease. Almost all countries have gone into
the situation of lockdown in order to control the spread of
the virus at the community level. Vaccines are not available
universally and many countries are trying to find and make
vaccines that can control the virus. Germany, the United
Kingdom, Italy, Israel, China and the United States are
having human trials of these vaccines to determine if they
can stop the spread of the coronavirus in the human body.
The number of human deaths in the United States and
European countries is much greater than the number of
deaths in China, which is causing some people to have a
critical view of China. Only 4,644 people in China have
died due to coronavirus. Such low number of deaths has
given way to sceptical views towards China and that is
affecting the geopolitical equation between developed
Western countries and China.
Challenge the International Law
and Justice
The coronavirus and the world’s response to it is changing
the geopolitics and has been a challenge for international
law and justice. It is now the time for countries to stop their
neoliberal activities and to focus on controlling this virus,
and then try to manage their national economy in this
pandemic situation. The world has not only faced the loss of
people but also loss in the economic rate and fiscal capacity.
Large economies in the world such as the United States and
Europe are dealing with great sufferings in this pandemic
situation. About 2 lakh American people lost their jobs
during the pandemic and registered as being unemployed.
So countries are trying to balance their economy and fulfil
their people’s basic needs.
We know that developed countries create and manage
international law and justice in universal organisations such
as the United Nations. The United States at first criticised
the WHO and their response, then the U.S. president
stopped the funding for WHO. While developed countries
are busy taking care of their own economies and not willing
to interfere in other countries’ affairs, China may have had
the opportunity to break some international laws. The
pandemic has had a very low impact on China’s economy as
well as the number of deaths. China is the second-largest
Jana and Roy 91
economy in the world. With the United States facing
economic losses daily, China is rapidly heading towards
becoming the largest economy in the world.
China was already making a play for control over the
South China Sea, and now in this situation, it is trying to
occupy Hongkong, Taiwan and the South China Sea. China
is thus taking advantage of the situation while the rest of the
world is focused on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
So, China is challenging every international law and justice.
In March 2020, Destroyer NAVY ships from China were
patrolling in the South China Sea. Seeing the activity of the
Chinese Navy’s ships, the United States, Japan and Australia
also sent their ships to patrol the area. The Chinese Navy
asked the U.S. Navy to remove their ships from the South
China Sea, but the United States ignored this request. The
ships of all these countries are currently patrolling in the
South China Sea.
The South China Sea has been an area being disputed
between China and Japan, as both these countries had
made a bid for its control following the Second World
War, and had asked for it to be made into an EEZ due to its
geopolitical importance. Vietnam, Australia, Taiwan,
Australia, South Korea and India interfere in this region
for their own geopolitical interests. In this pandemic
situation, this area has become a geopolitical hotspot
(Zafar, 2020).
Bureaucratic War
In this pandemic situation, bureaucratic politics has
increased, which is mainly centring on the issue of the
origin of the COVID-19 virus. The new battlefront of
COVID-19 and the need for medical supplies is aimed at
eliminating any frictions or administrative barriers that
have a negative impact on or are hurting doctors, nurses,
hospitals, patients and beneficiaries of essential public and
private programmes in the worst affected countries in the
world. This bureaucracy is increasingly used in behavioural
science. Sometimes, those burdens are justified; for
example, when the Social Security Administration takes
steps to ensure that those who receive benefits meet the
required qualifications. The bureaucratic leaders of both
the United States and China are blaming each other for the
origin and spread of virus. The United States blames China
for the coronavirus and China is blaming the United States
for the SARS virus of 2003. President Trump of the United
States and President Xi Jinping of China made allegations
in their respective speeches about the situation of the virus
(Das, 2020; The Hindu, 2020b). President Trump repeatedly
alleged China through his media briefing, and Xi Jinping
tried to provide answer to disprove these allegations. In my
point of view, the United States is using this opportunity to
create a negative view of China for the rest of the world.
Former American Presidents Barak Obama and Donald
Trump made allegations against each other since the start of
this pandemic situation.
Former President of the United States of America, Barack
Obama, reportedly criticised his successor, Donald Trump’s
handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country has turned
into an epicentre of the Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus outbreak with
over 12.4 lakh cases and over 75,000 deaths so far. Obama
reportedly described the Trump administration’s response
to the crisis as ‘chaotic’, ‘spotty’, and ‘anemic’. He was
reportedly speaking to 3,000 members of the Obama Alumni
Association, people who had served in his administration.
Obama also sought support for Democratic Presidential
candidate Joe Biden, who had served as Vice President in his
administration. (Hindustan Times, 2020)
Public Services and Personal
Protective Equipment
PPE include protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other
garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer’s
body from injury or infection. However, there is scarcity of
PPE to a large extent. China is the largest producer of PPE
in the world, but they supply it to selective countries only,
such as Iran and Germany. During the month of January
2020, China did not export any PPE product; they only
imported these along with ventilator machines from other
countries. In the first two months of 2020, China had
reduced the supply of medical essential equipment by about
15%, which was indeed at the peak of the pandemic situation
and these were much required (Bown, 2020). In the last
week of February 2020, China informed the WHO about
the coronavirus and its characteristics. When the world
learnt about the virus, there was a huge demand for PPE that
was sold by China at a higher price. Countries such as Italy,
Iran, United Kingdom, America and Turkey were afraid to
fulfil the demand of PPE. Germany and Canada were
among the countries that accused the United States of
virtually hijacking the much-coveted medical supplies,
aggravating Washington’s already testy ties with some of its
major allies (The Times of India, 2020). The protective
masks were manufactured in China by the U.S. company
3M which Berlin had given a contract for a consignment
meant for its police. 3M came under fire from Trump,
purportedly for its extra-territorial loyalties in times of
crisis, because, like with many U.S. companies, it had been
manufacturing masks in China for the international market
as part of its global supply chain norm. But President Trump
proclaimed an ‘America First’ policy pulled out all stops to
secure medical supplies. Because the United States imports
most of its PPE equipment from China, it has a lesser
number of manufactures for PPE equipment.
India imported three lakh coronavirus rapid testing kits
from China. But the Indian Council of Medical Research
(ICMR) returned those as they were showing incorrect
92 Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation 17(1–2)
results. All countries in the world have increased their PPE
production because of this pandemic. Currently, India is the
largest producer of PPEs and has been supplying them to
other countries in the world. When China declined to export
their PPE products to countries where it was urgently
needed, it gave India the chance to increase the production
of PEE and supply those. In just 60 days, India became the
second-largest PPE manufacturer in the world. In this
situation, other countries’ dependence on India for the PPE
and medicine has increased.
Shifting Economic and Defensive
Leadership in the World (Ablett &
Erdmann, 2013)
The tension between the United States and China will
provoke a more explicit clash over national security,
influence and values. Both countries will continue to use
economic tools in this struggle—sanctions, boycotts and
export control with shorter fuses and goals that are more
explicitly political (Bremmer, 2020). After the Second
World War, Europe and the United States ushered in a new
era of world dominance. The United States became the
biggest power with its Defence system, after the atomic
bombing in Japan, thereby causing the decline of the
powerful Japanese and the Nazi Germany. Atom bombs
were then topmost energy in the world and were controlled
by Russia and the United States. After the United States
emerged as the new power in the world, Russia started
losing its control over the European continent. Americas at
first developed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
with European countries for economic, defensive and
thinking conversation. This was followed by the forming of
a United Nations in the world, which was followed by the
formation of the Britten routes economic system. Here, the
United States, Canada, European countries, Japan and
Australia went for an economic treaty. The formation of the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)
followed next. This new politico-economic order ensured
that the United States truly became the world leader.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the balance of power slowly
started shifting towards China. Western countries’ politics
has changed from time to time and shifts towards a new
concept is not unusual. In the current scenario, on the
indecision of western politicians with regard to the origin of
the coronavirus is helping the Chinese economy to make a
strong foothold. China got permanent membership of the
United Nations in 1945, but this membership was questioned
by the United States. Nonetheless, this scepticism of China
has been there since the development of communism in
china in the 1950s. As regards the United Nations, major
decisions concerning world politics are taken by unanimous
voting of the five permanent member countries. All these
five permanent members—the United States, United
Kingdom, France and Russia, China—can use the veto
power. We have seen that there are two distinct groups
among the five permanent members and this is one of the
main hurdles in bringing about unanimous decisions on
international justice and has led to the demise of
neoliberalism.
China is currently the second most powerful economy in
the world. Chinese economic expansion of trade and tariffs
are now a tension for the United States. Professor Laurence,
who teaches at King’s College, believes in the Clerk
concept. He stated that China’s economic evolution does
not only indicate the American economic declination, it is
also the sign of China emerging as the new economic
superpower in the world. Professor Laurence believes that a
new world power is emerging from China, India and
Southeast Asia because half of the total world population
lives in this region.
Professors Meckel Clerk believes that China will face a
big challenge after the coronavirus pandemic is dealt with.
China was not aware of this virus prior to the outbreak but
many countries believe the opposite. According to Professor
Clerk, China faces a high level of geopolitical debate in
order to manage its supply chain with the other countries.
Conclusion
This pandemic situation has shrunk the world economy by
about 3%. One out of two people in the world lost their job
during the pandemic. In this critical situation, America and
the Western developed world have suffered more than what
China had to endure. Coronavirus is believed to have
originated from the Wuhan province in China. The world
sees a very critical condition of geopolitics in the form of
confirmed coronavirus cases, deaths and economic losses of
different countries. Big American companies based in China
are moving out of the country and are looking for avenues in
India and other populous Asian countries because some
countries are trying to ban Chinese products and thus get rid
of the huge taxes on Chinese imports. So, basically, foreign
companies are thinking of a shift from China.
The shifting geopolitical conditions can now be
historically divided into three stages. The first stage is from
ancient times to the Second World War; the second stage is
from the Second World War to February 2020; and the third
stage is post-CORONA, which started with the spread of
the coronavirus. In India, five million salaried people lost
their jobs in July 2020. The Centre for Monitoring Indian
Economy said, ‘17.7 million salaried jobs were lost in April
2020. An additional 0.1 million jobs were lost in May. Then,
3.9 million jobs were gained in June. But, 5 million jobs
were lost in July’ (Ray, 2020). World Bank suggests about
six crore people belonged to the below the poverty line in
this pandemic situation.
We can base the first stage of the geopolitical journey on
colonialism and by countries who occupied other countries
Jana and Roy 93
and used the occupied countries’ resources for their own
benefit. The colonial empires of the United Kingdom,
France and the Dutch are the greatest examples of the
geopolitical conditions at the time. The Heartland and
Rimland theories talk about the evolution of geopolitics in
the world.
In this second stage, geopolitically powerful countries
were not directly involved in any economic profit-making
ventures. The powerful countries exploited poor countries
by other means such as having a high-interest rate on
loans given to poor countries for their development.
The postcolonialism phenomenon is best understood as an
era of exploitation that can be seen in the exploitation of
poor African countries. China and France provide economic
help by giving high-interest loans and when the country is
unable to repay the loan in time, they would occupy the
specific developed object for which the loan was sanctioned
(Chan & Edel, 2018). The First and Second World wars are
the best examples of defensive war geopolitics. The United
States and Soviet Russia competed to increase their
military strength and become the most powerful countries
in the world. The second stage of geopolitics surrounds
the UN, IMF, WHO and World Bank. Every country is
greatly influenced by these international organisations and
is trying to have a good working relationship with them
for their own benefit. So, this stage of geopolitics revolved
around the power of these international organisations and
the benefits derived from them. During this time, many
international organisations and interest groups were
formed to help each other in different problematic
situations. An example is the formation of NATO and
ASEAN to help their member countries in providing their
citizens with basic amenities.
Due to the coronavirus, geopolitical conditions have
shifted from international organisations to focusing on the
two largest economic powers in the world. This pandemic
has led to a war-like situation between the United States and
China, which will affect the rest of the world. In the current
times, the United States and China are each other’s main
competitors in the world; they are competing in terms of
their economy, defence, political allies and political groups
in the world. A virus has caused the shift in geopolitics,
which is now focused on the economic war between China
and the United States. We know about the first Cold War
between the United States and the USSR; and now we are
seeing the Second Cold War between the United States and
China.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research,
authorship and/or publication of this article.
ORCID iD
Mintu Jana https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0566-8822
Note
1. See https://blogs.worldbank.org/team/christoph-lakner
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