A Crude and Simple Calculus: Lessons for the CCP from COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19 has resulted in unprecedented disruptions in countries around the world politically, socially, and economically. But it has also shown the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that China's influence vis-à-vis those variables can reap enormous benefits in the wake of a global health crisis. Since 1979, China has embarked on a grand geopolitical campaign to influence its political standing within international organizations, mold public opinion through its propaganda efforts in foreign nations, and become an indispensable ele-ment in the global economy as a hub of manufacturing. The impact of COVID-19 on the internal politics in other countries has demonstrated that this campaign has been far more effective across a range of domains than previously thought. Ultimately, COVID-19 has provided the CCP with lessons for a crude, yet simple calculus. One where China can leverage its influence politically, socially, and economically knowing that another global health emergency can reap far more in geopolitical gains than any backlash it may receive while crippling some of its biggest rivals in the process. © 2022, Uchitel Publishing House. All rights reserved.