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AMMONNEWS - By Sameh Al-Hindawi - Rampaging throughout the world, COVID-19 does not abide by the world’s border regulations and is still spreading relentlessly around the globe. Governments have found themselves placed between a rock and a hard place; trying to minimise the dire consequences of the virus while not affecting the economic growth. Globalisation was put to the test by COVID-19 and so far the virus was able to unravel several aspects of globalisation that were not implemented correctly, as some might say: the mask of globalisation has dropped. However, the global failure was not due to the globalisation ideology, it is due to the profound miscalculation of it. Globalisation reflects positively on whoever implements it correctly by increasing the cross-border flow of goods, people and integration which eventually results in the creation of opportunities.

COVID-19 single-handedly has been stress testing the ideology of globalisation by chopping off its wings. Policymakers and businesses realised how fragile the global economy is, and how national economies were exposed due to being fully dependant on globalisation. Globalisation as an ideology is considered positive and beneficial, however, the implementation of such ideology varies between nations.

Moreover, the World Health Organisation, which is supposed to be the basis of international cooperation in such times of crisis, became a source of dispute. As several sources stated: “The world health organisation (WHO) is supposed to be the world’s early warning system for pandemics”. The WHO lacked in the decision making department. It clearly made a substantial mistake by the delay of declaring the phases of the virus from outbreak to epidemic to pandemic. Globalisation is based on human unity, nation support and integration among governments, people, companies and industries in order to live in a more resourceful and efficient circumstances.

The world is heading towards a crossroads and globalisation is leading the way towards it, how will globalisation recover after witnessing a significant rise in unemployment rates, lack of resources, travel restrictions and what could be one of the greatest recessions. With globalisation, global entities spread their production lines globally, taking advantage of low tax rate and cheap labor. Nowadays policymakers and businesses are questioning if the risks of globalised production outweigh its benefits. Certainly, globalisation reduces costs, which makes products affordable. However, will that still be an option while COVID-19 limits the growth of the global economy?

Moreover, even prior to the current crisis, there were discussions about the future of globalisation due to the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China. Globalisation obviously assumes a cooperative and peaceful international political order. It appears that the political steadiness between countries is also vulnerable to shocks of such magnitude. In the meantime, countries’ fight over world’s limited supply of critical personal protection equipment remains. Several countries banned exports of gloves, medical equipment, face masks and ventilators, which resulted in confrontations between states. Also the European Union, which was portrayed as the role model of international cooperation, failed to synchronize government efforts to fight the pandemic.

To conclude, it is fair to say that COVID-19 poses a challenge to globalisation as we know it. In the post pandemic world, we may see a relative concentration of production to specific locations and nation-states gaining more power as opposed to multinational organisations and corporations.