Ashish Kumar Sen

While governments around the world are anxious to emerge from their pandemic lockdowns for the sake of their economies, the pressure to do so is more acute in countries like Pakistan where there were already high levels of poverty and a significant part of the population is engaged in the informal economy.

China is using the coronavirus pandemic to exploit divisions among Western democracies and extend its influence in these countries, according to Emily Haber, Germany’s ambassador to the United States. She worries that the twin public health and economic crises could turn into a political crisis for the democratic West.