Global Journal of Human Social Science, F: Political Science, Volume 22 Issue 5

COVID-19 and Human Security: Western Populism, Chinese Strong State and Africa’s Submissive Populace © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue V Version I 53 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 F The coronavirus is novel virus which has negatively affected the economies of almost every country and life. The study of this nature provides information for policy makers specifically Ghana, the appropriate measures taken by some countries like China with respect to how to curtail the infection of the virus. The study also provides useful information to policy implementers on how the virus got out of control in the western world and how Ghana could learn from the experiences of these countries. Policy makers would also be informed about how Africa conceded its weak health and financial stand and submitted to following the appropriate protocols to curtail the spread and fatality rate of the pandemic. Finally, this research adds to existing literature on COVID-19 and Human Security and how some countries were affected as a result of the response and approach to tackling the spread and fatality of the pandemic. d) Theory of COVID-19 and Human Security from the International Studies perspective i. Critical theory The Critical Theory which stems from Realism enables to evaluate the security of humanity in a critical manner such as COVID-19. Critical Theory concerns itself with Human Security and foreign policy goals. As a concept, Human Security was proposed and popularised in the first half of the 1990s, when some optimism remained that, in a “new world order, a peace dividend was possible in which security defined as freedom from want as well as freedom from fear, fear of diseases and pandemic would be enhanced” (Maclean, 2006). Critical Theory concerns itself with the “physical, institutional and ideological roots of the power and control” (Bostanoğlu & Okur, 2009). The basic issues of Critical Theory are hegemony, power, the relationship between the mode of production and power relations, power structures and emancipation. By focusing on the basic needs of the people, Human Security can be labelled as a policy towards “bio-political tyranny” (Duffield & Waddell in Peterson, 2006): “which uses the altruistic rhetoric found within the human security discourse to mask or legitimise interventionist, neocolonial, and neo-imperialist activities” which have been the focus and preoccupation of critical theory (Peterson, 2006). e) COVID-19 and Populism Some health and social sciences pundits during the early days of the break of the corona virus hastily posited that the pandemic would “kill populist politics” (English, 2020; Mead, 2020). The US President and the British Prime Minister have been classified by analysts as populists who are reluctant to face reality (Bolton, 2020). Cas Mudde, observed populism as “a highly diverse and heterogeneous phenomenon, would not have one, unitary response to the pandemic” (Mudde, 2020). Indeed, if one looks at countries with populists in power such as Argentina, Hungary, Philippines and Italy it will be realised that no coherent actions are being taken by their government to combat the spread of the virus. Argentina and Fernandez are performing better to stop the spread and infection of the virus whereas Some of the countries are performing very well in their fight against the pandemic and this is reflected in high approval rates (e.g. Argentina, Fernández), while catastrophic and unreliable policies of other countries have led to escalation in death tolls (Syn, 2020). Populism discussion in the United States about COVID-19 has been moderate. The former US President Donald Trump’s administration cannot be said to be the one that has populism elements and this gave rise to a national right-wing protest movement to fill up this gap that Trump did not have. The Republican Party which emphasises neoliberalism is associated with populism and presented itself as a struggle between the citizens and the government officials, experts in the media and academia. (Wilson, 2020). President Donald Trump did not take the opportunity raised by the corona virus pandemic to derive executive powers (Brady, 2020). He has repeatedly sought to blame China for the spread of the virus. “I think they made a horrible mistake and they didn’t want to admit it. We wanted to go in. This virus should not have spread all over the world. They should have kept it in their country” (Donald Trump as cited by Chalfant & Elis, 2020). Boris Johnson’s victory in the general election of 2020 in Great Britain is considered a great deal of a recognisably populist strategy. His quest to simplify issues and break them into digestible concepts has been the approach of his governance and if this approach has worked for his quest for Brexit, it is expected that the same will work in the case of Covid-19 (Bale, 2020; Margulies, 2020). f) China’s strong state and her defeat of the Covid-19 Pandemic China has been able to cut the domestic transmission of the Covid-19 virus in the whole country. This achievement is as a result of strenuous efforts and tremendous sacrifices and international support (Perez- Pena, 2020). China was the first major victim of the Covid-19 and therefore fighting it was going to be a challenge (Salzberger & Ehrestein, 2020). In the wake of the outbreak, China faced an either-or situation: Economic development or people’s lives. The government of China is of the opinion that human life is priceless and thus an unprecedented anti-epidemic campaign against the pandemic was rapidly launched with the help of the citizens (Gao & Yu, 2020). The following provide a summary of China’s strong state in the fight of the Covid-19 pandemic: 1. The Chinese government quickly quarantined Wuhan which was a hotspot for the spread of the