LBJ Professor Joshua Busby opens a five-part series on the novel coronavirus with a look at the politics of global health:
"Even if you don't study global health, you've probably been following the coronavirus outbreak in China with a mix of dread and fascination. Li Wenliang, the whistleblower Chinese doctor, who himself succumbed to the virus riveted the world. His death was mourned in China, even as the government initially censored conversations about his passing.
"The Chinese government's problematic response has created one of the most significant political challenges the Xi Jinping government has faced. Today, the heads of the Communist party in Hubei province and the city of Wuhan, the epicenter for the virus, were both fired.
"This episode reminds us that global health is high politics. The stakes of a global outbreak for international relations, the global economy, and trade are enormous, independent of the impact on human lives. The nearly 1,500 who have already died is a major tragedy, and we do not know if things are finally getting better."
The full series:
- Part 1: The coronavirus: Global health is high politics
- Part 2: Pull the alarm? The coronavirus as a global emergency
- Part 3: Shut it down? The International Response to the Coronavirus
- Part 4: China and the coronavirus: Getting it right or very wrong?
- Part 5: Now what? Health security after the 2020 coronavirus