Peace in the Face of the COVID‐19 Pandemic: Making Sense of the Paralysis at the UN Security Council

Abstract

The coronavirus that made its first apparition in 2019 in Wuhan, China, has proven to be more lethal than a bullet;it continues to claim thousands of deaths out of a growing number of infected people worldwide, and we are no way near its ending. The pandemic threatens to wipe out the billion poor that lack the means to purchase needed equipment for disease control and production of vaccines. This article attempts to address the question as to why all-time military preparation aimed at securing the survival of states does not tally with the readiness to fight pandemics and ensure the well-being of citizens. In the tradition of the Frankfurt school of critical theory, it seeks to explain and evaluate the paralysis of the United Nations Security Council to walk the talk at a time when collective response to fight a common enemy (COVID-19) is urgently needed. While each nation takes a sole-ranger approach toward the global pandemic, safety measures adopted by the World Health Organization constitute a covert recognition of the human agency that is needed for the promotion of peace that is associated with citizens' well-being.