The current pandemic has caused a
cataclysmic disruption in the ‘daily routine’ across the nations and sectors.
The damage this crisis has brought to lives and economies is unimaginable. This
pandemic is a wake-up call to bring about systematic and structural changes to
deal with such unanticipated menaces that can bring the world to a sudden halt.
This book attempts to contextualise and examine the nature of the ongoing
pandemic. The experts who have contributed to the book analyse key geopolitical
and technological aspects of the COVID-19 crisis. Besides, the book presents
views from a few important States concerning their role in combating the
ongoing crisis. The book also explores the issues of biosecurity and
bioethics.
CONTENTS
Preface ix
Abbreviations xi
About the Contributors xiii
Introduction xix
SECTION I: THE GLOBAL OUTLOOK OF COVID-19
1. History and Politics of Pandemics 3
PaulamiSanyal
2 Mapping the Global Outbreak of COVID-19 22
Anshu Joshi
SECTION II: ASSESSMENT AND RESPONSES
Asia
3. Saving a Billion: How India Confronted COVID-19 43
A. Vinod Kumar
4. China and US Response Plans Against COVID-19 60
Xie Chao
5. Japan’s Pandemic Politics: The COVID-19 Challenge to the
Reiwa Era 74
TitliBasu
6. Effective Management of COVID-19 in Iran 84
Ali Karami
North and South America
7. US Response to COVID-19 107
Cherian Samuel and Munish Sharma
8. Economic and Political Implications of COVID-19 in Latin
America 120
Syed Ali
Europe and Russia
9. France Response to COVID-19 129
ElisandeNexon and FrédéricCoste
10. Coronavirus in Spain 144
Maria J. Espona
11. Italy’s COVID-19 Crisis: An Overview 161
Chiara De Cuia
12 Sweden Reacts to COVID-19 177
KanchanaRamanujam
13. The UK Experience Three Months into the Pandemic 186
Paul Rogers
14. The Pandemic in Russia 198
Nivedita Das Kundu
Africa
15. Coronavirus Containment in Africa 211
Margaret W. Muturi and Eucharia U. Kenya
SECTION III: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
16. COVID-19 and the Search for Effective Vaccine 233
MrinmayeeBhushan
17. Leveraging Technology in the Fight Against COVID-19 244
AjeyLele and Kritika Roy
18. The Role of Biotechnology During Pandemics:
The Case of COVID-19 270
Ronnie Ninan
19. Decoding the Effectiveness of Contact Tracing Apps 296
Kritika Roy
SECTION IV: POLITICS AND COVID-19
20. US-China Power Politics in a COVID-19 Context 311
NamrataGoswami
21 COVID-19 and the Challenge of Global Governance 331
Manish
22. Coronavirus as God’s Soldier: Assessing the Divine Retribution
Narrative of Jihadi Organisations 349
AnimeshRoul
SECTION V: BIOLOGICAL SECURITY
23. After COVID-19: Time to Agree a Biosecurity Code of Conduct
Under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention 361
Simon Whitby, Cheng Tang, Lijun Shang and Malcolm Dando
24. Biological Security and Health in the Post-pandemic World:
The Infectious Disease Community’s ‘Mushroom Cloud’? 380
David R Franz
25. How Should South Asian States Respond to Global Biosecurity
Concerns 387
Malinda Meegoda
26. The COVID Crisis: Implications and Lessons for United States –
and Global – Biosecurity 397
VikramVenkatram, Diane DiEuliis and James Giordano
Editors’ Musings 406
Appendix: Draft Landscape of COVID-19 Candidate Vaccines –
29 June 2020 410
Index 421