International relation is a positivist inquiry of the global world, including the forces and relations shaping the international context. The leading perspective of international relations is the common behaviors among nations, including trade volumes, commercial behavior, state-to-state relations, and interaction of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and multinational corporations (MNCs). Given the critical role of the international system, global pandemics such as the COVID-19 significantly impacts the international relations. The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the international relations, causing diplomatic tensions and attracting a significant rethinking of existing policies to international relations. Ideally, a global pandemic such as COVID-19 presented a lot of challenges to conventional ways of theorizing international relations, resulting to reduced multilateral cooperation, increase in economic nationalism, changes in international system, ruined diplomatic relations, and tensions in international trade.

Reduced Multilateral Cooperation

The first and most critical challenge of a global pandemic such as COVID-19 towards International Relation is reduced multilateral cooperation and weakening rules based on the international system. Multilateral cooperation arises when the country of destination agrees with the free movement of labor from the countries of origin such that the two countries have unrestricted entry into their markets (Busby et al., 2019). The outbreak of COVID-19 as a global pandemic had a significant impact on international relations. The most notable effect was a reduction in multilateral cooperation, as countries became more focused on domestic issues and less willing to work together on international problems. That has been particularly evident in the UN Security Council, where divisions between member states over how to deal with the pandemic paralyzed decision-making. Further, global agreements have been undermined by disagreements between member states, including the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Before the pandemic, many states had established multilateral agreements to sustain the free movement of labor. Through multilateral cooperation, it was possible for nations to cooperate in trade and achieve free movement of labor (Johnson, 2020). The outbreak of COVID-19 had a significant impact on multilateral cooperation and international relations. The pandemic led to a decrease in international travel and trade, and a decrease in several international meetings and conferences. The pandemic also resulted in a decrease in the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe and other parts of the world. These decreases in international cooperation had a significant impact on the global economy, and on the ability of countries to address global issues. In light of these impacts, multilateral organizations such as the United Nations began working harder to coordinate their efforts and cooperate more closely with each other. Countries have been working to strengthen their relationships with each other, to better cooperate on global issues.

Furthermore, COVID-19 highlighted a lost opportunity for multilateralism. The pandemic had largely negative effects on global collaboration. Leading multilateral agents also had subpar performances in 2020. For example, under Donald Trump, the US gave up on multilateralism, turning it into a liability for making America Great Again rather than a long-term advantage for establishing hegemony. The multilateral apparatus faced additional issues as a result of this vacant perspective in various regions. For instance, the European Union struggled with a lack of cooperation and was unable to do much to lessen international turbulence, even though some of its member states such as Italy and Spain were early epidemic epicenters. Due to member nations’ independent provision of economic assistance and medical care, the European Union was closed for reasons of national security.

Decrease in international trade and global markets

The outbreak of COVID-19 also presented a challenge in theorizing International Relations by causing a decrease in trade in global markets. It is due to the fact that the virus had caused disruptions in the supply chain, and a decrease in the demand for goods. The outbreak of coronavirus had a significant impact on trade and international relations. The pandemic led to a sharp decline in global trade, as businesses were forced to close their doors, with countries imposing travel restrictions (Davies & Wenham, 2020). The above element had a ripple effect on the global economy, with businesses across the world feeling the pinch. The pandemic resulted in a sharp decline in global trade due to several factors, including the closure of borders, the reduction in demand for goods and servi