The emergence of a new strain of coronavirus, COVID-19 has had a profound effect on virtually all aspects of human activity. While the medical and health implications of COVID-19 are profound, the effects of the disease on governance, law, and international affairs will likely be even more significant and long-lasting. Join SIA and Penn State Law professor, Larry Catá Backer, on Friday, April 17th from 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. for a roundtable discussion webinar that will bring together experts in law and international affairs from Asia, Europe, North America, and the Caribbean to discuss the collateral effects of COVID-19 in those terms. 

Participants will speak to (1) misperceptions about the situation in China; (2) the use of coronavirus as a veil for racism; (3) national responses to perceptions of crisis; (4) effects of coronavirus on the movement of people, investment and capital across borders; (4) consequences of coronavirus for the state of international affairs and legal structures (e.g., quarantines, education, supply and production chains, human rights versus collective responsibilities, etc.); and (5) repercussions for big global trade projects, with specific reference to the Belt and Road and America First initiatives. Send questions and inputs for panelists to address to VirusConfPSU@gmail.com. The roundtable is co-sponsored by The Coalition for Peace & Ethics, the Research Network for Law and International Affairs, the School of International Affairs, and Penn State Law.