Impact of biological challenges on social and political relations: issues and prospects

• A.M. Berman

  A.M. Berman National Research University Higher School of Economics Moscow. Russia

Biological challenges accompany humanity along the entire path of its historical development. The most common biological challenges are infectious diseases, which claim millions of lives every year. With some of the infectious diseases a person manages to fight thanks to the development of technology, with others we have to coexist to this day. The most striking example of a biological challenge facing the world in
2020 is the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Due to its rapid and ubiquitous spread, coronavirus infection has had a complex impact on all aspects of human life, going far beyond the boundaries of exclusively the healthcare sector, transforming all kinds of channels of interaction within the country and at the level of international relations. The COVID-19 pandemic has already gone down
in history as a global emergency, leading to a global economic downturn that surpassed the financial crisis of 2007–2009 in its consequences and comparable only to the Great Depression. The article analyzes the possible consequences of the impact of biological challenges on public and political relations using the example of coronavirus infection. The relevance of studying this phenomenon precisely on the example
of coronavirus infection lies in the consequences of its spread – a cardinal change in the established world order already at the first stages of the spread of the pandemic. In addition, the continuing (wave) nature of the spread of coronavirus infection makes it possible to study the response of spheres of state life (economic, political and social) at all stages of the spread of a pandemic (in the short and long term) to assess the ability of each of them to adapt to biological challenges (existing and potentially possible in the future). Based on the analysis of the
events that have already taken place, as well as the study of the forecasts of specialized experts, the author draws conclusions about the consequences of the crisis caused by the coronavirus infection for the economic, political and social spheres – the existing problematic aspects are identified, as well as predictions about the possible consequences in the future are made.

Keywords: biological challenges, infectious diseases, coronavirus infection, COVID-19, sociopolitical relations, issues, prospects, economic consequences, political consequences, social consequences, financial crisis.