'Weak' and 'Strong' States in Pandemic Times Power and Influence During a Global Health Crisis

摘要

While Russia's huge population and size has created certain disadvantages during the pandemic, the UAE's size has made it easier to control the spread of the virus. At the national level, in dealing with the pandemic, the 'vulnerabilities' of a small state can turn out to be advantageous because by closing its borders, and with a relatively small number of citizens to manage, its national security concerns prompted by the virus are minimal. Moreover, considering the pandemic as a human security threat, rather than an inter-military one, a state's economic strength can be viewed as central for the development of policies designed to increase that state's global influence by offering foreign aid. Thus, measurements of a state's power can be regarded differently in the unprecedented times of the coronavirus pandemic, when the most prominent threat is a human security one shared across state borders. In pandemic times, it is important to understand the challenges facing 'great powers' and the potential opportunities for 'small' states.