ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a picture of the implications of COVID-19 for international security. It does so through both conceptual and empirical lenses. The chapter contextualises its case study within a body of literature that seeks to reflect on the tensions caused by the intersection between an International System (IS) of states and a transnational order of networks, such as capital, people, goods, and ‘threats without passports’, such as pandemics. It is argued that although networks can be challenging for states, great powers have the capabilities for leveraging on and shaping these networks to suit their grand strategic objectives.
This conceptual discussion informs the case study of the chapter – the New Cold War between the United States of America and China. Here, focusing on Italy and the UK, the chapter argues that the success of China’s attempts at shifting the narrative about the causes of COVID-19 in Italy and the UK has been limited and uneven, especially since the United States sought to oppose this strategy. Ultimately, the chapter demonstrates that COVID-19 has opened an additional front in the New Cold War.
