A REALIST PERSPECTIVE ON THE WORLD BEFORE THE WAR IN UKRAINE: WAS THE PANDEMIC AN INHIBITOR OF THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER?

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the world to consider an increase in international cooperation to manage this security threat, particularly under the WHO and with the support of the great powers. The surprise was that the WHO was accused of failure and the great powers developed protectionist and nationalist tendencies, with states coming to the fore once again as the most important actors in world politics. In this context, the paper explores a trend that continued to exist even during the pandemic, even though the war in Ukraine was clearly not on the international agenda: namely a continuation of the struggle for power as traditional Realism define it, but with new sources of power to be explored according to the current trends in the security environment: medical resources and a continuing development of military power, despite the economic problems that have arisen.