Professor Mark Beeson discusses how the rapid spread of the coronavirus is bringing about an equally rapid transformation in domestic and international politics. The preparedness of national health systems and the responses of political leaders around the world are being thrown into sharp and often unflattering relief.

The absence of leadership from United States at either the domestic or especially the international level is especially noteworthy. China’s response, by contrast, has – after a false start – been remarkably effective. This presentation considers what the crisis may mean for the relative standing of American and Chinese forms of politics and economics. Are democracies capable of responding to the challenge? What are the implications for free market capitalism as it succumbs to yet another crisis? We may not know the answers for a while, but the questions are increasingly urgent.

Full presentation:

Flavia Zimmerman’s follow-up interview with Professor Mark Beeson:

Mark Beeson is a Professor of International Politics at the University of Western Australia and the AIIA National Research Chair. He is Co-Editor of the Australian Institute of Australian Affairs publication, Navigating the New International Disorder: Australia in World Affairs 2011-2015. He was the founding editor of Critical Studies of the Asia Pacific.

Flavia Bellieni Zimmermann holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the Pontifical Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro and a Graduate Diploma of International Relations and National Security from Curtin University, Western Australia. She is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Western Australia Centre for Muslim States and Societies.