Dr. Salam AL Rabadi
The reality of international relations
outside academic life in light of the Covid19 pandemic crisis appears
completely different, where, the challenge lies in formulating a new vision,
which can defend the integration of the results of the global scene against the
attacks of the idea of the intellectual vacuum which are taking place now. In this context and when dealing with
multidimensional and highly complex issues, the issue of methodology acquires
exceptional and fundamental importance. Contrary to the intellectual and
political clamor and all the currently prevailing theses on the collapse of
unipolarism as a result of the repercussions of a Covid19 crisis, we can say that the global reality before the
crisis was expressing a transitional stage in most of the political,
intellectual and economic issues.
Where we find that it was definitely
full of many developments, as the
actual move from the industrial community to the knowledge society has taken
place, in addition to the transition from the polarity duality to the relative
monism, and from the concept of the classical security to the concept of the
relative dangers society. Consequently, these issues as a whole formed new
global patterns, which made it logical to discuss dilemmas related to how to
see the global system and try to foresee its future and the identity of the
main actors in it.
Proceeding from that, when the reading
of the global reality before the pandemic crisis, it can be said that there has
been a major shift in the concept of global security, as the classic vision no
longer controls reality, which was based on achieving state security (i.e.
political security).
On the contrary, the concept of vital
human security there has become encompassing all dimensions: environmental,
economic, cultural and political, including health dimensions and the
implications of technological progress,etc.Also, as a result of the increasing
influence of transnational corporations, NGOs and individuals, not to mention
the emergence of terrorism, environmental issues, and the problems of the
biotechnical revolution and artificial intelligence on the global stage, it has
become strategically impossible to talk about a global system controlled by one
pole.
Based on
these approaches and by simulating the contemporary reality of international
relations (whether before or after the pandemic), we find that it is full of
changes at all levels, which can be illustrated through the following dilemmas:
- The dilemma of the
intellectual vacuum and the absence of ethic dimensions.
- The dilemma of state
standing and force standards.
- The dilemma of the
cultural dimension and its summons to understand the global patterns.
Hence, in principle, these changes in
the structure of the global community were a precedent for the pandemic of Covid19, so that the pandemic came to
confirm these changes, not to nullify or veto it(as many politicians,
researchers and thinkers claim), which was expressed through the following
problematics:
1- Can
international relations in the 21st century be analyzed by relying solely on the criterion of material
strength?
2- Is there a need
for a new philosophical pattern to explain the new reality of international
relations?
3- What ways do we
have to meet and define ethical requirements, which include a new concept of
human security?
Since before the Covid19 pandemic in 2020, the twenty-first century has
revisited our certainty constants about everything related to man, society,
politics, economy, culture, science and ethics. Where there were many theories,
which tried to fill the intellectual void of our world, including the theory of
the end of history, the theory of the clash of civilizations, and the postmodern
theory.etc. But, the most dangerous of them was, at all, a theory called "Post-Humanity".
Where, since 2000, with the discovery of the genetic map, humanity has entered
a revolutionary evolution in biological sciences, which will result in radical
transformations that may allow the possibility of changing the human nature,
and certainly will be accompanied by fateful moral, political and economic
effects.
Consequently, it becomes clear, beyond any doubt, that prior to the
Covid-19 pandemic, there were real and more serious questions regarding facing
future political and moral options in the field of genetic engineering, so in
the future, we will face the "Post-Humanity" world, and the
repercussions of the current pandemic will only be a small point in its ocean.
As human genes will be combined with other animal and possibly plant genes, in
a way that makes us not know what the meaning of humanity is, and thus the
world will be full of conflicts and there will be no room within it for any
concept about our common humanity.
This pattern in turn opens the door wide to the dilemma of the
relationship between humanity and scientific progress and the extent of its
impact on world politics, not to mention the pace of intellectual development
in international relations. Based on this vision, we can say that the Covid19
Pandemic and its repercussions are a result, not a cause.
Hence, the Covid 19 Pandemic has not brought us anything new in
international relations at the intellectual and political level, except to
emphasize the importance of creating a global system of values that governs the
behavior of societies, states and world institutions and organizations. Where,
the question of values and their transformations, will be at the forefront of
current and future intellectual questions in world politics. So that the shift
is made from focusing on economic and political factors only, to the trend
towards cultural factors as the influencing and driving force in approaching
global issues (whether in terms of interpreting them or finding solutions to
them).
In this context, and according to
the methodology of self-criticism and historical logic, we can raise the
question about whether we fell into the trap of the problem of urgency in
filling the theoretical void that explains global issues. as the time frame for
all these new global patterns did not exceed 20 years, and that time period It
cannot give us fixed connotations and indications. Thus, what can we say about
all of these current propositions and hearsay related to the repercussions of
the Covid19 Pandemic, which have not yet been more than a few months old?
