COVID-19 roundtable to examine disease’s impact on international affairs

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – While the COVID-19 pandemic has had profound medical and health implications, the effects of the disease on governance, law, and international affairs are also significant and long-lasting. In an effort to address the broader impact of COVID-19, the “Coronavirus and International Affairs Roundtable” will bring together experts in law and international affairs from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and the Caribbean. The roundtable will be hosted on Zoom from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday, April 17. The event is free and open to the public, though registration is required to attend.

The Coronavirus and International Affairs Roundtable is cosponsored by the Coalition for Peace and Ethics, the Penn State School of International Affairs, Penn State Law, and the Research and Career Development Network for Law and International Affairs.

Participants include academics, practitioners, and civil society actors from China, the United States, Spain, Germany, Israel, and Italy, each bringing a unique national and regional perspective to the discussion of COVID-19 in its transnational effects.

Topics of discussion include:

• National responses to COVID-19—convergence and fracture;
• COVID-19 and the “end” or “transformation” of globalization;
• COVID-19 and borders; its effects on the movement of people, investment and capital;
• 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.);
• Repercussions for big global trade projects like the Belt and Road and America First initiatives;
• Perceptions and misperceptions about the situation in China; and
• COVID-19, racism and nationalism.

Those planning to attend are encouraged to send questions and inputs for panelists to address to VirusConfPSU@gmail.com before April 17. Questions submitted prior to April 17 will be distributed to roundtable participants for response during the event.

For more information, visit the Coalition for Peace and Ethics website.