The COVID-19 virus has radically changed the globalist world-system, pushing it toward a new model of multipolarity. Within the course of a few weeks, the EU has been transformed from a united open space to a region with sovereign nationalist regimes complete with closed borders and emergency state authority. The spread of the new virus has certainly not helped the political model of the ‘open society’ and globalist agenda: in fact, the idea of the open borders and so-called “human rights” turns out to be a threat to the health of millions of citizens. What effect will the coronavirus have on the political order in the world, especially in the EU?
In the recent Financial Times article Gideon Rachman notes that the current changes can be described as the ‘pushback against globalisation.’ The actual COVID-19 crisis had transformed the world a step closer toward a model based on nationalism: Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, Emmanuel Macron, Boris Johnson, Angela Merkel – all of these leaders have all become the authoritarian rulers in a new non-globalist world. The era of the nation-states, according to Gideon Rachman, has returned.
Failed globalization
The virus has exposed the weakness of the globalist world: open borders have resulted in the free spread of virus in multiple countries, the free market system has destabilized the economic situation which internal market regulation has proven unable to fix, requiring heavy involvement from the state. The only effective strategy against the virus has been the installation of closed nation states, nationalization of the economy and the installation of protectionism.
French Paradoxe: l’État-nation produced by COVID-19
Among the new leaders transforming their countries into closed nation-states are the very same persons who had formerly declared themselves to be defenders of globalization and the open society. Macron’s example is particularly impressive: influenced by Jaques Attali, an advocate of the elimination of borders, the leader had projected himself as part of the new globalist avantgarde after the ‘isolationist’ Trump won in the US. However, Macron’s discourse has changed within a month of the Coronavirus toward authoritarian socialism, immediately changing the internal situation along the lines of a controlled state economy – his recent measures correspond to practically all the requirements the yellow vests were demanding. Among the new measures of Macron’s government is promised support for small and middle sized French businesses who will be hit by the shutdowns, the president saying “no business will be allowed to fail.” He has given authorization to postpone rent payments for French small businesses, a measure completely against the usual ultraliberal orientation of the French president, who had long been criticized as the defender of monopoly capitalism. He has instituted diesel and petrol price reduction (in January the 95th fuel cost €1,6, and the price is now at about €1,27), that 80% salary will be still paid to workers and the French people will be granted tax ‘holidays’.
“We are at war,” Macron declared. Earlier, Macron’s war was against his left and right opposition, but what has that war become now? The war against COVID-19 has turned into a war against the open society. Yesterday’s defender of the liberal open society is implementing nationalist and left-oriented measures to his own country recognizing the EU cannot and will not save France from the pandemic.
What does the future hold?
As COVID-19 spreads, the EU is facing the impossibility of the restoration of supranational blocks.
Merkel’s latest speech was important in that she didn’t even the EU, and no EU flag appeared behind her (something extremely rare in Merkel’s speeches). Financial aid for businesses and unemployed workers will not be coming from the EU.
Politicians in Italy, Poland and Spain have already criticized the EU for being an ineffective structure which doesn’t meet its promises. Even if the EU is able to deliver extra financial aid for the European countries within the next few weeks, it will already be too late to avert a deep crisis. The EU has shown its ineffectiveness in the regulation of the internal crisis in Europe.
The EU as it was known for more than 60 years is over. Brexit and mass protests against EU authoritarianism had already shaken the EU’s legitimacy, and the coronavirus is the last straw.
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The failure of the demonization of China
New facts circulating in the mediasphere suggest that the responsibility for the coronavirus might fall on the US’ side. Certain experts (Rubini) claim that the virus was created artificially as a bioweapon in a North Carolina laboratory as part of a special operation for installing a new world order. The coronavirus, which first appeared in China’s Wuhan area, might have been used as an excuse to put more sanctions, or even an embargo on China, the number one enemy of the US. But it seems that something went wrong: China overcame the pandemic, and its spread is not concentrated in the West. Now, unexpectedly, European leaders might be forced to follow China’s lead to deal with the crisis.
????????‘#China’s secret is an organized mobilization’: #Chinese Consul General #CuiWei@Akkoc_Tunc (of the Aydınlık newspaper) asked Cui Wei, the Consul General of China in #Istanbulhttps://t.co/JGIhxoE2vP #Coronavirus #COVID19 #Turkey @AydinlikGazete
— United World International (@uwidata) March 25, 2020
The end of the artificial division between the left and right
The new crisis immediately eliminated many strong political divisions between the left and right wing. Political leaders (mentioned as the new nation-state rulers in the Financial Times article of Gideon Rachman) are tending to mix the left socialist economic measures with right-wing programs such as the closure of borders and establishment of state control over migration (which is widely seen as the source of the new COVID-19 pandemia).
The best results in the fight with Coronavirus have been attained by countries who conducted autonomous protectionist political strategies and recognized the limitation of supranational blocks.
Сhina used all its centralized system in order to drastically surpress pandemia introducing strong disciplinary measures. The same for Turkey – where Erdogan has assured himself as a strong leader and by the time being his decision to radically block coronavirus and to give huge support to the citizens through the state is very promising.
China, Turkey and Russia seem to be on the frontline of this new leaders block, who can more or less effectively fight the spread of pandemia because of the authoritarian (in a sense of defending the national interests of its people) regimes, who have experienced or still have the socialist or nationalist model of economics.
The European countries, where the left and liberal regimes has been transformed into cultural Marxist reign will not be able to react quickly on the coronavirus challenge. That’s how we can also explain the disbalance in statistics of infected in Italy, Germany or Spain with the numbers of the Turkey or Russia.
So we have interesting situation of appearance of the new post-globalist regimes appearing in the West. We have a kind of convergency of 2 ways to the same goal – the end of global order and arrival of national centered multipolarity.