1
IMPACT OF COVID - 19 ON INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL
ECONOMY STABILITY
Introduction
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced COVID-19, which initially
emerged as a global pandemic on March 11, 2020 (Setiawan, 2020). COVID-19 is spreading
rapidly around the world and impacting public health and the global economy. In addition,
COVID-19 also has political implications that force countries in the world to adjust their
policies. Almost all countries in the world must move quickly and maximally to implement
accurate and effective measures to avoid health, economic and political crises. COVID-19
has become a test for the capability and quality of government leadership at the global,
national and local levels. On the other hand, COVID-19 is also a test of commitment to the
principles of democracy, for example in ensuring the delivery of aspirations in the public
sphere and providing freedom for people to be involved in government.
This is certainly a test of the capability and quality of government leadership at the
global, national and local levels. On the other hand, Covid-19 is also a test of commitment to
democratic principles, for example in ensuring the delivery of aspirations in the public
sphere and providing freedom for the people to be involved in the wheels of government.
This condition has led various countries in the world to implement policies to limit the
masses, crowds, and political decisions such as: social distancing, physical distancing, lock-
down, and various border closures such as, stopping management and granting visas for
foreign nationals. Various countries also implemented closure of flight routes and
restrictions on activities in and out of borders for foreign nationals, where this was also
followed by repatriating their citizens who were trapped in the country. Other countries
through emergency flights or facilitating the return of their own citizens. WHO itself
emphasizes that the COVID-19 Pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of
the International Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The impact of the Covid 19 Pandemic on people's lives is quite large. Sources from
the website of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of United States noted that as of July 7,
2
2021, the Government of the Republic of United States has reported that the total number of
confirmed cases of COVID-19 is 2,379,397 people and there are 62,908 deaths (CFR: 2.6%)
related to COVID-19, and as many as 1,973,388 patients have recovered from the disease.
While the global situation as of July 7, 2021, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the
world are 184,350,802 cases with 3,992,992 deaths (CFR 2.2%) in 222 infected countries
and 149 community transmission countries (Infectionemerging.kemkes.go.id, 2021).
Several studies from various fields have also examined the many impacts that have
occurred as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic, one of which is by (Lisbet, 2021), the
Kompas source states that the impact of COVID -19 is a decrease in the level of world
economic growth. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that world economic
growth decreased by 0.1-22% to 3.3% in 2020. This was also conveyed by the Head of the
Organization for Economic Co- Operation and Development (OECD), Laurence Boone,
who has also predicted a slowdown in the performance of the world economy due to a
reduction in the number of supply chains and a decrease in demand for commodities (Lisbet,
2021).
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on the tourism sector, with the
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) announcing in March 2020 that the impact of
COVID-19 will be felt throughout the tourism chain. Approximately 80% of small and
medium enterprises in the tourism sector with millions of livelihoods around the world are
affected by COVID-19 (Sugihamretha, 2020).
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, UNWTO has revised its outlook for
international traveler growth by a negative 1% to 3%, resulting in a decline in revenue or an
estimated loss of US$30 billion. Asia and the Pacific will be the worst affected region, with
a decline in arrivals estimated between 9% and 12% (Sugihamretha, 2020).
Given the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in more than 200 countries around the
world, this problem deserves to be seen as a global problem, not just a problem of one or a
few countries. The COVID-19 phenomenon has triggered various analyses on the impacts
and global responses that need to be prepared, so that the world is better prepared in the
future to face similar shocks in the future. Various efforts have been made to overcome it,
3
from domestic initiatives from experts, to bilateral cooperation, but have not shown
significant results.
If we look at the data, it shows that the fight against Covid 19, which has shown
success in reducing outbreaks, is still in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan.
This is, no doubt, due to their experience in dealing with the SARS epidemic in 2003 (Sikki,
2020). On the one hand, developed countries such as those in continental Europe and the
United States are even weaker, the effect of the Covid 19 pandemic. One of the hardest hit
countries so far is Italy. When viewed based on data from the wordometer site of 86,498
cases with a death rate of 9,194, which Italy has a strong relationship with China in
economic relations (Sikki, 2020). In the health sector, it was overwhelmed, so it made the
Italian State have to quarantine the entire section, all shops were closed, except for
pharmacies and grocery stores. With the quarantine in place, eating citizens have been
ordered to stay at home and can enter public places only for shopping or traveling to work as
needed. Public and private debt obligations, such as rent, interest payments were suspended,
thus slowing down the economy until the coronavirus outbreak was completely eliminated
(Sikki, 2020).
Referring to bilateral cooperation, the utilization of bilateral cooperation is actually
very possible to control in overcoming the problems that exist in the country due to the
Covid -19 pandemic. Some countries have shown success in reducing outbreaks and taking
the initiative to help other countries affected by the pandemic in order to recover in terms of
economy and health. For example, Japan and South Korea are quite successful in handling
Covid 19 and showing success in reducing the outbreak.
As is known, Japan through a statement delivered by the Japanese foreign minister
Motegi Toshimitsu has decided to contribute assistance through the World Health
Organization (WHO) and UNICEF worth 1.5 billion yen. The emergency assistance will be
provided to countries affected by the Covid-19, and United States is no exception
(Sebayang, 2020). Minister of Foreign Affairs Neheri Motegi also said that it is absolutely
essential for cooperation between the international community to prevent the spread of this
outbreak (Sebayang, 2020).
4
In response, United States Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi expressed her gratitude
for the assistance provided by Japan, and her appreciation for the cooperation that has been
carried out together with Japan. In addition to the Covid-19 issue, both parties also
expressed their commitment to bilateral relations, and committed to intensifying bilateral,
regional and G-20 cooperation mechanisms in combating Covid-19 (Sebayang, 2020).
In addition, South Korea is also strengthening bilateral cooperation in handling
Covid - 19, one example is its cooperative relationship with United States. The potential for
collaboration between United States and South Korea in combating Covid-19, including the
support of the government and the South Korean private sector for Covid-19
countermeasures in United States (Ekon.go.id, 2020). So far, the two countries have good
bilateral relations, especially in the fields of investment, trade (export-import), and tourism,
with total trade between the two Asian countries amounting to US$1,311 million in January
2020 (Ekon.go.id, 2020). United States is a supplier of raw materials and energy for South
Korea's industries.
United States is one of the main investment destinations of many South Korean
companies. The country was the 9th largest investor for United States in 2019.Total
investment from South Korea to United States that year was US$1.1 billion (2,952 projects),
a 33% decrease from the previous year's US$1.6 billion (2,412 projects).This condition has
even united countries around the world that are experiencing the same incident. As
evidenced by stronger cooperation to prevent the spread of the virus and mitigate its effects
on the economic and social fields (Ekon.go.id, 2020).
A good example of "world unity" is the Extraordinary G20 Leaders' Summit on
COVID-19 held some time ago. United States is committed to implementing the outcomes
of the summit, and underlined the importance of collaboration among countries in dealing
with the Covid-19 outbreak (Ekon.go.id, 2020).
Because of these problems, it is very interesting to study and analyze more deeply.
So based on this background, the author draws the problem of the Impact of COVID-19 in
International Political Economy Stability. This paper will focus on what are the impacts of
the COVID -19 pandemic phenomenon, and various global problems in general, and
5
position the COVID -19 pandemic phenomenon from the point of view of international
political economy studies as a study of International Relations. So that it will answer the
problem of how the impact of the COVID - 19 pandemic on the stability of the International
Political Economy. The purpose of this research is to find out how the impact of the COVID
1-19 pandemic affects the stability of the international political economy.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
6
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
7
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
8
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
9
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
10
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
11
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
12
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
13
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
14
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
15
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
16
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
17
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
18
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
19
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
20
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
21
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
22
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
23
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
24
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
25
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
26
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
27
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
28
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
29
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
30
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
31
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
32
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
33
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
34
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
35
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
36
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
37
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
38
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
39
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
40
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
41
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
42
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
43
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
44
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
45
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
46
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
47
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
48
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
49
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
50
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
51
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
52
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
53
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
54
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
55
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
56
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
57
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
58
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
59
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
60
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
61
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
62
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
63
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
64
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
65
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
66
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
67
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
68
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
69
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
70
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
71
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
72
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
73
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
74
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
75
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
76
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
77
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
78
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
79
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
80
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
81
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
82
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
83
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
84
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
85
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
86
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
87
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
88
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
89
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
90
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
91
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
92
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
93
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
94
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
95
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
96
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
97
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
98
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
99
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
100
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
101
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
102
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
103
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
104
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
105
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
106
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
107
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
108
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
109
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
110
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
111
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
112
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
113
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
114
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
115
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
116
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
117
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
118
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
119
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
120
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
121
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
122
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
123
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
124
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
125
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
126
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
127
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
128
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
129
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
130
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
131
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
132
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
133
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
134
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
135
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
136
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
137
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
138
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
139
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
140
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
141
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
142
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
143
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
144
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
145
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
146
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
147
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
148
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
149
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
150
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
151
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
152
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
153
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
154
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
155
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
156
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
157
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
158
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
159
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
160
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
161
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
162
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
163
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
164
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
165
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
166
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
167
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
168
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
169
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
170
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
171
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
172
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
173
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
174
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
175
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
176
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
177
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
178
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
179
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
180
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
181
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
182
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
183
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
184
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
185
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
186
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
187
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
188
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
189
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
190
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
191
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
192
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
193
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
194
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
195
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
196
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
197
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
198
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
199
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
200
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
201
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
202
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
203
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
204
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
205
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
206
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
207
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
208
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
209
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
210
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
211
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
212
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
213
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
214
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
215
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
216
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
217
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
218
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
219
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
220
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
221
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
222
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
223
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
224
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
225
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
226
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
227
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
228
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
229
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
230
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
231
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
232
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
233
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
234
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
235
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
236
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
237
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
238
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
239
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
240
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
241
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
242
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
243
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
244
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
245
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
246
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
247
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
248
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
249
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
250
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
251
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
252
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
253
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
254
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
255
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
256
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
257
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
258
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
259
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
260
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
261
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
262
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
263
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
264
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
265
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
266
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
267
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
268
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
269
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
270
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
271
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
272
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
273
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
274
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
275
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
276
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
277
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
278
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
279
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
280
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
281
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
282
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
283
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
284
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
285
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
286
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
287
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
288
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
289
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
290
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
291
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
292
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
293
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
294
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
295
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
296
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
297
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
298
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
299
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
300
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
301
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
302
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
303
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
304
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
305
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
306
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
307
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
308
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
309
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
310
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
Methods
The type of research in this writing applies descriptive qualitative methods by
answering the research questions raised in this research journal. The type of qualitative
method used is a literature study of a number of academic journals. This qualitative method
is used to follow the line of social science research methods. The research method must
outline the method that will be used in addressing the problem including the method of
analysis, which should contain sufficient detail to allow the reader to evaluate the suitability
of the method as well as the reliability and validity of the findings (Kusno, 2020). The
literature review in this article uses qualitative analysis in explaining the issues discussed
through document-based and internet-based methods based on relevant contemporary
studies.
According to what was also said by (Morrisan, 2019) Descriptive research is used to
explain certain social conditions. Usually used as an effort to answer what, where, when,
and how research questions.
Results and Discussion
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The Global Crisis resulting from the Covid Pandemic -19
If we go back to the history of the beginning of the virus, or plagues that have
attacked the world, the Covid 19 outbreak is not the first pandemic faced by the international
community. But the global crisis caused by the Covid 19 outbreak is more severe when
compared to previous outbreaks that attacked the world, such as, MERS, SARS, and bird
flu. One example of an outbreak that has attacked European society was the Bubonic Plague,
which spread very quickly. The first period occurred during the Peloponnesian war in 430
BC, which was eventually called the Peloponnesian Pandemic. The virus is thought to have
originated in Ethiopia and spread rapidly in Athens, as the Spartans besieged. Two-thirds of
the population died from the virus. Thucydides wrote in his History of the Peloponnesian
War in 431 BC, saying that the plague was so severe and deadly, not only were the doctors
who were not concerned about it helpless, but they died the soonest because they had the
most contact with the sick. The disease killed almost 25% of the population in Athens. The
pandemic had a serious impact, even reducing compliance with the rules and religious
beliefs of Athenian society (Rusdi, 2020).
Furthermore, around 527 to 565 BC, the so-called Justinian plague destroyed the
Byzantine empire. The second period was the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe's
population. In 1720 the plague struck again in the French port of Marseille, killing more
than 100,000 people. At first it was people sailing on a ship that had contracted the virus,
then when the ship docked, the virus quickly spread to other citizens. However, the third
largest case in history occurred in 1855 in China, which killed more than 12 million people
worldwide. The plague is estimated to have killed nearly half of Europe's population. The
plague originated in China, Northeast India and then to the great lakes of Africa where it
was transmitted by black rats. At that time, to prevent the plague all that was done was to
avoid the sick. There is great confidence that the pandemic will end because infected people
who are still alive produce immunity.
Furthermore, in 1347 - 1351 a pandemic called the Black Death emerged, which is
estimated to have claimed the lives of two-thirds of Europe's population. The effect caused
by this disease is that the skin will turn black due to bleeding. The transmission of this
disease comes from a type of flea or black rat. However, history records that scientists
believe that the Black Death was a PES plague, caused by Yersinia bacteria (Rusdi, 2020).
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At that time, the government of the port city of Ragusa in Italy quarantined sailors to prove
that they were not carrying the disease. At first, sailors were detained on their ships for 30
days. Venetian law named this condition as trentino. Later, the isolation increased to 40 days
known as quarantine, the origin of the word quarantine and quarantine (Rusdi, 2020).
At the end of 2019, the Covid 19 virus was considered a global pandemic that first
appeared in Wuhan City, China at the end of 2019, which eventually spread throughout the
world. Corona virus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a
virus that attacks the respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by
this virus is referred to as Covid-19. Its rapid spread has made other countries feel the
impact. This virus attacks the human immune system and causes very serious impacts that
lead to death. Covid 19 has succeeded in shaking and changing the order of human life in
the world. All countries in the world are moving quickly to take steps with the intention of
reducing the spread of Covid 19, for example the implementation of lock down, social
distancing, physical distancing, and closing borders such as stopping the granting of visas
for foreign nationals, which is almost happening all over the world (Kurniawan, 2021).
Steps taken in the form of closing flight routes and restricting border entry and exit
activities for foreign nationals have been taken by various countries, which are also followed
by repatriating their citizens who are trapped in other countries through emergency flights or
facilitating the return for their own citizens. In addition, many fields are affected by the
existence of this very dangerous virus, not only in the field of education that is affected, but
in terms of health, economy, politics, and also internationally (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri
Putri, 2021).
When referring to the WHO or World Health Organization, it has emphasized that
the Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic that requires full implementation of the International
Health Regulation (IHR) as an international health regime. The magnitude of the effort in
responding to a large-scale global pandemic with massive and dangerous distribution makes
the state required to prepare to respond to a pandemic with several scenarios such as,
Preparation of national health infrastructure and superstructure; preparation for handling the
guarding of state entrances and borders to prevent cases of infection from human migration
from abroad (imported cases); planning for influenza sanitation and disinfection programs;
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and risk-assessment of policies and steps to be taken in responding and assessing the
effectiveness of the response for handling health problems during a global pandemic in
accordance with what has been established by the world health organization or WHO (Jose
& Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
The Covid-19 phenomenon that occurred and was experienced by almost all
countries in the world caused a crisis in various fields that was very serious, which triggered
various analyses of the impacts that occurred and the responses that needed to be prepared,
so that the world would be better prepared in the future to face similar shocks in the future.
Various efforts have been made to overcome it, such as domestic initiatives, to bilateral
cooperation, to overcome the crisis but have not shown significant results.
If seen from the perspective of international relations, Covid-19 is seen as the main
cause of the global crisis, thus providing a new understanding where experts in the
international system work together in handling global crises that appear at unexpected
levels. However, it is certain that if the realist theory succeeds in explaining that the
international system is anarchic, it is certain that a question arises regarding the legitimacy
of the label of the anarchic international system, which can be seen both in the cooperation
carried out in the midst of a pandemic and the competition of each country in improving
their ability to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
Expectedly at the international level, existing cooperation and response efforts have
focused on mitigating the major impact through efforts to slow the spread of the virus, as
well as to alleviate the limited medical infrastructure and resources in such a large surge of
infections with strict control and surveillance. However, these efforts are hampered by the
diverse economic conditions of the community and to avoid a domino effect. The Covid-19
pandemic has affected the political map and the pattern of cooperation between countries
where it is considered that the world is divided in taking a stance on the spread of the global
pandemic.
If we look at the rate of spread of the Covis 19 virus that occurred in almost 213
countries until August 30, 2020, namely in North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, oceania and Asia, from day to day the number of cases and deaths continues to grow.
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There are accumulatively 25,390,069 cases, comprising 850,615 deaths, 17,709,077 people
recovered, 6,830,377 active cases, and 61,101 serous (critical) cases. They were distributed
in North America 28.8%, Asia 27.56%, South America 24.59%, Europe 14.0%, Africa
4.92% and Australia 0.11%.
If analyzed from the table above, in quantity, North America and Asia are the
regions most affected by pandemic cases. Meanwhile, Europe is the region with the most
reported deaths due to COVID-19. North America, which has a population of 589.9 million,
recorded 7.313 million cases and 270.5 thousand deaths. Asia, where 4.615 billion people
live, has a record of 6.999 million cases and 141 thousand deaths. Next is North America
(inhabited by 431.34 million), which has 6.244 million cases and 201 thousand deaths. Next
in order are Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Europe had 355.56 million cases and 270,532
deaths. Africa has 1.25 million cases and 29,633 deaths. Meanwhile, Oceania, which is
inhabited by 40.9 million people, has only recorded 28,476 cases and 681 deaths due to
COVID-19.
Looking at the daily graph, the pandemic has passed the two-wave phase. Daily
additions of cases and deaths are still high. During the month of August, more than 250,000
cases were added every day, while the death rate averaged more than 250,000 increased by
about 6,000 per day. This is linked to the economic impact that occurred in a number of
affected countries during the pandemic.
IMF Fiscal Data July 2020, presents growth projections for a number of affected
countries during the pandemic. The impact of the Covid pandemic on economic growth has
a wide variation. The IMF makes three categories of countries; namely: Advance Economies
(developed countries), Emerging Market and Middle Income Economies (developing and
middle income countries), and Low Income Developing Countries (poor countries). The
IMF economic team predicts that during the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced countries will
experience a contraction in economic growth between -5.5% (Germany) and the US by -
15.4%. During the pandemic, it is estimated that the average developed countries
experienced a growth of minus 10.7% (Junaedi & Salistia, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on International Political Economy Instability
315
The impact of Covid-19 attacks and causes crises in almost all countries in the world.
Thus causing new problems for all countries in the world that are difficult to solve. This
impact changes the habits and order also in the international political economy and changes
following the development of Covid-19. When discussing international political economy, it
is a study that highlights economic and political relations, statemarket, on a global scale.
International political economy has various focuses (Irawan, 2020).
With the emergence of Covid-19, all international political dynamics are very
focused on efforts to deal with the deadly virus. So that the Covid-19 Pandemic can be made
as a new chapter in the global political movement, because all countries are affected by this
pandemic. In addition to the tourism sector, which certainly also affects the economy of
each country, due to the limitation of foreign citizens to visit other countries, lock downs and
others. The corona virus also has an impact on the supply chain considering that China,
especially Wuhan, is a supply area for several raw materials. According to Dr. Irma
Indrayani, M.Si, an International Relations expert from the National University of Jakarta
(Unas) argues that there are three sectors affected, namely Oil Prices, Supply Chain, and
Business travel, but apart from these three important factors, all layers feel the impact.
Since the advent of globalization, and the world has become closer and people can
connect easily and interact with each other without facing serious barriers. This has resulted
in on the one hand beneficial and on the other hand detrimental to the social, political, and
economic fields. Such free and unimpeded movement brought about by globalization has
stimulated social, economic development, but it has also become a channel for the spread of
diseases (Kusno, 2020).
As a result, due to the technological developments associated with globalization, the
impact during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a major pandemic, has
greatly affected the movement of people around the world regardless of their geographical
location. Another concept of international political economy is Globalization, which
describes the changing "environment" of human interaction (Kusno, 2020).
Many academics and experts specifically discuss globalization, such as Joseph
Stiglitz, Mansbach, and Hyland Eriksen. Globalization explains the fundamental change
316
from a world that was segregated due to the polarization between the communist and liberal
camps, to one that is connected to each other. Political barriers to the connection of
governments and people from different countries with those from other countries were
greatly reduced after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s (Irawan, 2020). Another factor
shaping globalization is the invention of new technologies that support this cross-border
connectedness.
From the economic point of view, the impact of Covid -19 is still little known in
terms of the medium to long term macro of the global pandemic. The fact that happened, the
Covid - 19 pandemic which had an extraordinary effect on globalization and most
importantly also in terms of the economy, until now to overcome the corona virus or the
effectiveness of efforts to limit its spread is unclear; thus, at this time making economic
predictions is less clear and very difficult about the possible behavior of economic agents
(Kusno, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic, in turn, has had tremendous effects on the globalization
of the world, one of which is the economic aspect. It is safe to say that many of these effects
are already being witnessed today, and will continue in the short term, at least during the
period of fighting the pandemic.
According to Butler (2020), states that economic problems in various regions have
an impact on a scale that has never been imagined before. This is evidenced by the sharp
increase in poverty rates as predicted by the World Bank from 8.1% in 2019 to 8.6% in
2020, which means that there will be more than 50 million people who will experience
poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the country itself will certainly struggle to
deal with economic fallout which also makes various investments and trade valuations that
have decreased to touch 32% and have an impact on developed countries. (Jose & Indah
Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021) This is accompanied by social security problems such as political
crises, where the level of public trust in the government has dropped dramatically. Crime
rates increase with the increase in unemployment in a country, coupled with the difficulty of
law enforcement, especially in mafia-controlled countries. The absence of legal
assertiveness by the police and government officials, as well as the problems that afflict
conflict countries and failed states which are exacerbated by the absence of a strong central
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government and the absence of the rule of law (Jose & Indah Pratiwi Eri Putri, 2021).
In addition to the economic impact of the Covid -19 pandemic, it also affects
international relations which are actually related to each other. Some of the positive results
that have occurred, relations between countries, because as a result of this pandemic,
countries are helping each other and trying to fight the pandemic through friendly
collaboration. The unprecedented systemic challenges thrown up by the COVID-19
pandemic, and the global response already seen, can help the development of transforming
traditional patterns of donor-aid recipient relations towards a new model of international
cooperation between all States (Kusno, 2020). Even during the pandemic, the relationship
between China and the US is still well established, and remains in full swing, although there
is still a war of words and accusations about the origin of Covid-19 remain, and discussions
of joint efforts are also taking place between the two countries to fight the pandemic.
If we re-analyze the impact of Covid -19 in international political economy, they are
interrelated with each other. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought multidimensional changes
in international relations, especially in the political economy and international development.
These changes make countries required to be more resilient and set efforts to overcome
transnational issues that have a direct impact on humans (people) and not always on the
state. No doubt, in the end it resulted in changes in the global order, politics, economics and
international relations between countries in the world. The existence of the Covid-19
pandemic has forced many countries to close their territories. Transportation activities and
community movement are also limited. Bilateral and multilateral relations between countries
are disrupted due to this pandemic. Ethical issues, morals, justice, health, equitable access to
vaccines, and the battle of the big countries color current global politics and in this
pandemic. So the main trend is strengthening the sense of nationalism, mutual cooperation
to help each other.
While behind it is also accompanied by the weakening of multilateralism so that the
State no longer hopes for assistance or cooperation with other countries. So it is very logical
that the Covid Pandemic can be linked to the international political economy, because all
countries are greatly affected by the Covid - 19 pandemic.
318
Conclusion
When the world faced the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. It caused a shift in the
global order, especially related to the mapping of international political economic power.
The group of developed countries located in the northern part of the world, must face the
fact that they must prepare themselves to make post-pandemic adjustments. Corona virus or
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that attacks the
respiratory system, acute pneumonia, until death Infection caused by this virus is referred to
as Covid-19 this virus not only causes a decrease in one's health but also reduces economic
growth globally, as well as impacts in the international political sector. The reason is, this
virus is able to transmit and spread quickly only through touch from one person to another.
So that it has a huge impact on all sectors in the world. If seen from the perspective of
international relations Covid-19 is seen as the main cause of the global crisis, thus providing
a new understanding where experts in the international system work together in handling
global crises that appear at unexpected levels. However, we can be sure that if the
international community, teams of experts in various fields can take a more structured
attitude, help each other, and implement good stability between countries in handling Covid
-19 then this crisis will be quickly resolved and well controlled.
The pandemic could have international relations effects in at least two ways: first,
affecting existing and future economic programs under the government for government
cooperation particularly between China and other countries, and second, new partnerships
and friendships driven by aid and assistance (especially medical-related) exchanges between
governments.
