Perhaps COVID-19 pandemic has a silver lining

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IS the matter so grim that we are losing hope?

I will look at this as “a cup that is half full and not empty”. This article focuses on the principle – “Every cloud has a silver lining”. This is because the international situation, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, was very complex. The way global events were unfolding had sparked panic and tension, especially the trade war between the United States of America and China, which created anxiety in the international relations, and divisions of countries.

Today there is a different view of matters, despite the great misery that the world is living in, and the disaster caused by this pandemic in many countries.

Due to this crisis, strings of cooperation were formed among Washington, Beijing and Moscow. In fact, China and Russia sought to help many countries combat the pandemic, after the lack of adequate attention to the health system in many countries became a matter of great concern.

The health workers have become the main nerve under this pandemic. The military has been deployed to serve medical teams and not the other way around. They have been given the freedom to act as they see fit to curb the spread of this disease.

In the recent months, the tone of political conflicts has softened. Economic concern has taken the center stage as it has become the weakest element in such an exceptional situation.

The fever that has affected the economy has weakened most sectors such that we today see a shift in the perception of industries after the world found itself facing a major challenge in terms of medical equipment and supplies. One of the positive aspects in this regard is that some international companies have relinquished intellectual property rights on their products and allowed countries to produce them.

This pandemic has put the globe on the path of change. The world order has turned to a new pattern different from the previous one, not only in politics and economics, but also in social and human relations.

The change clearly manifests itself on the decisions taken by the governments that are not receiving major opposition from parliaments or opposition parties. This is because everyone realizes the time is not right for narrow political gains in the fight against the pandemic which is threatening everyone without exception.

Therefore, we are witnessing for the first time, like in many countries, that the government has been exercising its role without unnecessary parliamentary interference. Everyone is standing behind the government and supporting every step forward.

Unfortunately, this change has not yet reached regimes that still live in caves of obscurantism and deal with the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to achieve their diabolical goals.

Despite calls, which are supported by many countries, to suspend conflicts in the world, Tehran still practices its aggressive policy in the region; for instance, its attempt to drag the United States into a war through attacks on its bases in Iraq and the region. It also instructed its agents in Yemen to bomb Saudi Arabia.

This Iranian squawk is no longer worrying the world, as all countries are currently united to fight the pandemic which does not differentiate based on nationality, sect and ethnicity. It will not forgive the Mullahs regime for being the black sheep, especially with the curse it is facing locally for failing to take proper steps towards combating the coronavirus pandemic which is spreading like wildfire among Iranians. It is increasing the complexity of the situation by continuing with its foreign terrorist operations.

Perhaps, the level that has prompted the world to change its visions would also push towards holding Tehran accountable for its aggression. This means this grim cloud could have its silver lining, either in terms of altering the policy of the Mullahs regime to render it in harmony with international trends, or ensuring its fall after it failed to contain the spread of disease, and its repression and violation of the simplest rules in dealing with such a sensitive humanitarian issue.

Indeed, when this crisis ends, all nations will have learnt the lesson well enough, especially after they neglected many lessons throughout the past century that could have prevented several disasters. The nations had instead indulged in matters that would bring them closer to their demise in almost all aspects.

Despite the miseries that we are witnessing today due to the failure of the global health system, which has become the primary concern for all, when we look at the positive aspects of this coronavirus pandemic, we will undoubtedly realize that every cloud has its silver lining, and that the humanity is set for a great awakening.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

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