Fourteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

The years 2018 and 2019, for international relations and global trade, were wavering from a trade war between the two largest superpowers today, which caused a significant drop in world growth and redefined the strategy for both China and for the United States: between multilateralism and protectionism, reconfiguring new alliances, but finally, generating a truce between both countries that ended in the signing of an agreement in early 2020. However, the optimism at the beginning of this year, quickly ended with the appearance of a virus - baptized as COVID-19 -, which although it originated in the city of Wuhan, in China, has been one of the world’s great equalizers. Unlike humans, viruses don’t care where their victims come from, what religion they follow, or what ideology they believe in. We are all at risk, and as economies close and resources are depleted. This paper discusses the dynamics of international power and how they may see a change in the era of the coronavirus.