A Review of World Situation

2020 is an extraordinary year in human history. COVID-19 and subsequent economic and social shocks have caused severe damage to the material world, while also stirring up huge waves in the spiritual world of mankind.

“Anti-globalization” trend of thought

As an ideological trend, "anti-globalization" is a reaction to the ideas advocated by globalization. It does not deny the fact that globalization is more efficient, but believes that the losses caused by the unfairness of distribution facilitated by such high efficiency of production exceed the welfare improvement brought by it. The binary logic of trampling or pursuing fairness and justice has greatly strengthened the "sense of moral mission" of advocators of "anti-globalization".

"Anti-globalization" is not a phenomenon that has only appeared in recent years. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19, driven by the United States, doubts and dissatisfaction with economic globalization had already formed a countercurrent in the international community, featuring frequent trade frictions, stagnant multilateral cooperation, and the rise of xenophobia. The COVID-19 has pushed the world to a crossroads: either move towards globalization based on a community with a shared future, or slide towards castling along geographical, ethnic and even blood lines.

Extremist thoughts

Extremist thoughts include political extremism, religious extremism, racism and other toxic and harmful thoughts. Their common characteristic is to achieve political goals through spreading terror and using extreme or violent means. Some European right-wing extremists believe that Europe is a continent of white Christians, and Muslims pose a threat to their culture. In May, George Floyd, a black American, died because of violent law enforcement by a white policeman, which triggered "Black Lives Matter" (BLM) demonstrations nationwide. Some right-wing extremist forces also took the opportunity to cause trouble. For example, the "Boogaloo boys", who hold "white supremacy", believe in "Neo Nazism" and anarchism, frequently appeared in full battle gear at the scene of the protest and shot the police who maintained order. The impact of the "Floyd incident" also spread to Europe. More than 100 people were arrested and dozens injured in a massive confrontation between British far-rights and supporters of the BLM movement. Some European far-right parties refer to anti-racist protestors as "terrorists".

Unilateralism and power politics

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has not curbed the unilateralism of the US government. In May, President Trump announced that the United States would terminate its relationship with the World Health Organization and redeploy the dues paid to the organization elsewhere. In July, the United States officially withdrew from the WHO. At the moment of the pandemic, any suppression or blackmailing of the WHO means disregard for life, challenges humanitarianism, and sabotages international cooperation in fighting the pandemic. The actions of the United States have fully exposed its true face of unilateralism and power politics. In addition, its arbitrary and adventurous behaviors on the Iran issue are also a vivid footnote to US unilateral power politics. After the Trump administration took office, despite the opposition of its European allies, the United States unilaterally announced its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. The United States’ policy on Iran and the Middle East has become a “booster” for regional hot issues. What’s more serious was that the unilateralism of the United States has played a negative example in the international community, weakened the authority and binding force of international law and international institutions, and increased the risk of bringing the international community back to the law of the jungle.

Cooperation on public health and climate change

With the spread of COVID-19, more and more people of insight realize that public health and safety problems caused by the COVID-19 and climate change are the real enemies of mankind. The international community has gathered more and more consensus to seek common response to these threats. China, the EU, and G77 have expressed their support for the efforts of the World Health Organization to contain the COVID-19. Some countries have also provided additional financial support for this. For example, China, after donating 20 million U.S. dollars to WHO, added 30 million in cash donations for the prevention and control of the pandemic and supporting the construction of health systems in developing countries. On climate change, in December 2020, on the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement, the Climate Ambition Summit 2020 was held, and 75 national leaders announced new commitments and specific plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to cope with the increasing trend of climate change.

Regional and multilateral cooperation

In 2020, significant progress has been made in major regional cooperation arrangements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The progress of regional integration is vital to the regional and global efforts to cope with the COVID-19, and will promote the regional resilience through inclusive and sustainable economic recovery after the epidemic. In addition, multilateral cooperation is also ushering in new opportunities. The coming Biden administration, which aspires put more emphasis on multilateral rules, will replace the Trump administration, which is obsessed with pressure tactics in bilateral ties. Although there are still many specific difficulties in multilateral consultations in the foreseeable future, a new impetus for international cooperation driven by regional integration and multilateralism is taking shape.

The concept of A Community of Shared Future for Mankind

The most important proposition confirmed by the COVID-19 is that the world is an indivisible community with a shared future, and the international community must unite and cooperate to cope with the crisis. China has always insisted that all countries should help each other, increase policy communication and coordination, comprehensively deepen international cooperation, and build an open world economy, in order to beat the pandemic as soon as possible. The concept of a community with a shared future for mankind is a creative answer to "what happened to the world, what shall we do" under the background of major changes unseen in a century and has been exerting an increasingly extensive and profound influence on the thought and policy circles of the international community.

Contributed by Feng Weijiang, special guest research fellow in the Center for the Study of Xi Jinping Thoughts on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, vice president of Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Translated by Pan Meng