Introduction
International relations deal mostly with the study of relations of different states with one another and their cultures. These relationships can impact a vast field from international law, politics, and economics to diplomacy, security, and governance. Through international relations, people are entitled to make an impact, know more of what politics entails, and experience cultural immersion (Reeves 105). This paper focuses on discussing how the international relations theories have been put into action in real-life situations more so on COVID-19.
The article on the COVID-19 pandemic as an x-ray of recent world, is exposing how the world is lacking some critical and worth noting loopholes to globalization. The author has articulately featured more on ‘Correspondence Theory of Truth, which states that the falsity or truth of a statement is determined only by how it interacts and accurately describes to that world(Ingthorsson 27). The author has confidently in four instances shown how truth in his article of the COVID-19 crisis as an x-ray of the recent world.
To begin with, there is lack of committed and wholehearted global leaders. When the pandemic stroke the world, instead of leaders from the powerful countries coming together to form a coalition that will gear towards combating the pandemic, they just focused wholly on their own countries affairs. The pandemic made the United States and China sharpening their rivalry and too the same applied between the United States and Russian relations to remain even more confrontational.
Secondly, the lack of exercised, commanding, and powerful international community and globally serving leaders underscore the lack of universality in handling world crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic x-ray has demeaned the US from being a world headship and lack of sufficient control to impose the liberal rule of law. Third incidence is that the author has briefly shown the effect of superiority among the powerful nations, like China rejected a request from the World Health Organization to do research and examine the origin of the virus (Wang et al 12). The above three scenarios have depicted how the Correspondence Theory of Truth was exercised by the author precisely and with great wisdom.
Realism
Realism is the most fitting theory to analyze this article more efficiently and adequately because it is the theory that deals with helping in explaining the reality of international politics and to some extent international policies. Realism features most its priority goal as endurance of the state and further clarifies how the state’s actions are adjudged according to the morals of accountability instead of ethical principles. Realism is in this article is evident in the case of the Chinese government denying the World Health Organization (WHO) permission to explore Wuhan as the origin of the virus (Graham 24). The denial led to many perceptions globally that China had a hand in the emergence of the virus. Countries also have not had cooperation to read from the same script and produce a COVID-19 vaccine. Instead, each country has gone its way to research its way. This approach has led to poor countries not accessing the vaccines with ease, and if they get an opportunity to access, then the rollout cannot even vaccinate a million populations.
This theory has again depicted how there is a big gap of global leaders in terms of vaccine roll out but instead, the wealthy countries have vaccinated their respective population to a greater percentage. European fans of football can now cheer their teams on a match, but poor countries are still struggling with 12-hour economy (Horton 137). This has clearly shown how these powers are egocentric with the facilities and resources they have. Going by the above incidences, it is true that realism theory is practical and applicable on the issue of the pandemic as an x-ray of today’s world.
Marxism
Lastly, Marxism is a rare theory used in international relations. This theory differs greatly from realism and liberalism theories views because instead, it focuses only upon economic and material aspects, this approach necessitates it being materialistic in its structure. Following this basis, COVID-19 came and showed the world that there was need for many countries to have adequate facilities for war capabilities, health system strength, or economic infrastructure (Woo 347). Countries with lesser command in health system infrastructure have been made parasites of the powerful countries and they have continued to suffer more because access to the vaccines is not an easy task.
For instance, if Italy had command in the health system, many of its people could not have died of the virus because they could have had the capacity to hospitalize all patients when the pandemic spiked. Comparing the United States, China, and the other hand Italy and India, a country must have enough facilities in every sector should another x-ray emerge like COVID-19.
Conclusion
Conclusively, through the article The Covid-19 Pandemic: An X-Ray of the recent World we have learned that there are international organizations that we thought were very effective but have ended being proved wrong. The international community should be effective in its roles and work in tandem with its principalities. In addition, Realism and Marxism theories have clearly shown us how the powerful countries are egocentric and self-centered and shown how cooperation can be of great importance.
Works Cited
Graham, Thomas. “Global Governance Expert Opinions The COVID-19 Pandemic: An X-Ray of Today’s World”. International Relation Theory, 2021, 1-27
Horton, Aaron D. “The Hermit Kingdom Versus the World: North Korea in the 2010 World Cup.” Football and the Boundaries of History. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2017. 137-157.
Ingthorsson, R. D. “There’S No Truth-Theory like the Correspondence Theory.” Discusiones Filosóficas, vol 20, no. 34, 2019, pp. 15-41.
Reeves, Audrey. “Auto-Ethnography and The Study of Affect and Emotion in World Politics: Investigating Security Discourses at London’s Imperial War Museum.” Researching Emotions in International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018, pp. 03-127.
Wang, Chengdi, et al. “COVID-19 in Early 2021: Current Status And Looking Forward.” Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy 6.1 (2021): 1-14.
Woo, Jun Jie. “Policy Capacity and Singapore’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Policy and Society 6.7 2020. Pp.345-362.