ABSTRACT
The outbreak of the coronavirus and global spread of the disease COVID-19 in the spring and summer of 2020 shocked and frightened the world. The shock was particularly disconcerting, however, in relatively prosperous, advanced industrial nations that had long considered themselves immune from such ancient dangers. For researchers in the field of conflict analysis and resolution, the successive shocks of the pandemic and ensuing conflicts constituted a major challenge. Although it was not clear that the crisis had generated new social struggles, it seemed undeniable that it had inflamed existing conflicts, especially those between antagonistic socio-economic, political, and cultural groupings. As the United States became the global epicenter of the pandemic, accounting for more than one-quarter of all coronavirus cases and COVID-19 deaths, US residents found themselves observing governance systems in nations such as China, Vietnam, and South Korea with envy and incomprehension.
