Page - 21 - in Friedensgutachten 2020 - Im Schatten der Pandemie: letzte Chance für Europa

The coronavirus pandemic shines a bright light on the crisis of international institutions. This can be seen in the unilateralism of national crisis management efforts, but also in the lack of willingness to cooperate effectively with the WHO. Examples of the latter include China’s failure to provide information and threats to withdraw funding and accusations on the part of the USA. The crisis can, however, also be an opportunity: coming together to tackle the coronavirus creates an experience of solidarity and dealing with the economic and social consequences of the pandemic will require international efforts and measures. It is important at this point to make sure that Europe is involved in shaping this response. To enable this, there has to a strategic discourse about unalienable core values as well as a great deal of patience. In the long term, China and Russia also have an interest in a stable international legal order and are similarly reliant on international cooperation in dealing with the challenge of the corona- virus. China’s economy profits from a stable free-trade regime and legal clarity. In view of the USA’s containment strategy, but also because of the enormous expense of the coronavi- rus pandemic, China needs stable relations with the EU, which is one of its most important trading partners. And because Russia cannot keep up with China’s growth and dynamism, Moscow also favors a stable international order that will protect its interests and rights. The EU can and must use this opportunity in 2020 to transform its visions into new impulses for institutions and cooperation projects that will create opportunities for resilient develop- ment and the protection of fundamental values in the post-coronavirus world. ↘ NO BORDERS WHEN FIGHTING CULTURES OF HATRED In the case of many challenges, including climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, the transnational element is obvious. The transnational nature of right-wing terrorism and extremism is mentioned less often. Yet digital cultures of hatred also transcend national frontiers. Cooperation between states is necessary to disrupt their growth, eliminating the lawless zones where calls for militancy are propagated. In spring 2020, the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the development of right-wing terrorism cannot be predicted with any reliability. Yet at least in Germany, two tendencies can be identified: on the one hand, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has warned that far-right ideologues could use conspiracy theories to mobilize support and make migrants into scapegoats for allegedly spreading the infection. At the same time, the policies of the “established” parties, which have been relatively prudent so far, offer an op- portunity to win back lost trust in the effectiveness of democratic institutions from sections of the population. Integrate China and Russia in international cooperation efforts peace report / 2020 21