Global Security in Times of Covid-19

‘Will the twenty-first be the century of global pandemics as the twentieth was the century of world wars and revolutions? Is this the sobering reality of the ‘brave new world’ which lies ahead of us? This timely and provocative collection of essays provides an acute and sustained analysis by an outstanding group of scholars of how Covid-19 has begun to reshape our thinking about security. One of the very few books whose own scale matches that of the challenge it describes.’

– Christopher Coker, Director, LSE IDEAS, London, UK

Written in the middle of a pandemic, this book examines the effect of COVID-19 on regional and global security threats in the first 18 months of the crisis. Throughout history, epidemics have disrupted human civilisations, changed the structure of societies, decided the outcome of wars and prompted incredible technological innovation. Despite massive progress in science, institution-building and cooperation over the past 100 years, COVID-19 has revealed the weaknesses of a world under-prepared for a new disease – that had been widely expected and long overdue! This edited volume brings together leading security experts from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East to share their analysis of the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on major security threats, including the rise of terrorists and criminal networks and global power politics. The book highlights important lessons learnt from all corners of the planet, in particular the need for cross-sectional, regional and international cooperation and solidarity when it comes to facing any transnational security threat that does not respect political boundaries.

Caroline Varin is Senior Lecturer at Regent’s University London, UK, and CEO of Professors Without Borders. She holds a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics. She has published four books, including Boko Haram and the War on Terror (2016), Violent Non-State Actors in Africa: Terrorists, Rebels and Warlords (2017), and Security in Nigeria: Contemporary Threats and Responses (2020).