The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis on international governance

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has constituted one of the most perilous health, economic, and political crises of the modern era, exposing vulnerabilities within the structure of the new international system. In particular, the lack of coordination among nations led to varied national responses and divergent perspectives on crisis management. This highlighted the urgent need for effective coordination mechanisms capable of addressing transboundary crises. Furthermore, numerous international organizations, most notably the World Health Organization, became the target of criticism regarding their management of the crisis. Consequently, there have been calls for enhancing the transparency of these institutions' performance and strengthening their independence. This situation has compelled the international community to reconsider global governance mechanisms and their interactions with global crises. Therefore, with the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic in late 2019, the need for global coordination in response to these unprecedented threats emerged, and international organizations became vital in guiding collective efforts. This development reinforced the concept of international governance as a means of addressing transboundary crises. The problem area of this study stems from the following central question: To what extent has the Coronavirus pandemic affected the role of international governance within the new international system? From this main inquiry arises a series of sub-questions that examine the pandemic's impact on international governance and its political and economic consequences. Additionally, the study highlights the health and social factors that contributed to the escalation of the pandemic's threat and the deepening of its effects. The significance of this study arises from the need to understand the impact of the pandemic on public health and socio-economic transformations, as well as from the necessity of developing effective governance policies based on robust evidence to manage similar crises in the future. The study aims to elucidate the concept of international governance, to examine the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on various aspects of governance, to analyze and compare crisis management policies, and to assess the level of international cooperation during the crisis. It also seeks to identify the key actors in international governance and to propose future scenarios for the post-pandemic era. The study is based on the hypotheses that the Coronavirus pandemic constituted an unprecedented challenge to the international system established after World War II, necessitating a high degree of international coordination and generating profound impacts on global governance. To investigate the historical development of the concept of governance, the study employs the historical method, while the analytical-descriptive method is used to analyze the impact of the Coronavirus crisis on international governance and to draw conclusions. Keywords: Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19), International Governance, International Crises, International Actors, International System.