The Covid-19 pandemic has undeniably impacted virtually every society across the globe physically, psychologically, socially, and the far reaching, powerful effects of the pandemic render its study as perhaps the most relevant and comprehensive political issue of this generation. By comparing the American and Taiwanese governments and their respective public responses with Covid-19 data, we can analyze the effect of government influence on people during a pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed more than four million lives to this day, making the global supply and distribution of vaccines critical to the health and safety of all civilians. The project discusses past and current trends in vaccine allocation as well as multilateral initiatives that address issues surrounding the equitable distribution of doses. Furthermore, the project also emphasizes the importance and benefits of vaccine multilateralism over vaccine nationalism in order to meet global vaccination needs.

U.S. justifications for increasing sanctions on Venezuela in recent months have been ideological as well as humanitarian. Venezuela, which has experienced a shocking descent into political and economic chaos over the past decade, has a history of emancipatory struggle and socialist revolution which informs every decision U.S. policy architects make when dealing with the turbulent country. Under President Trump’s administration, the strength of the United States’ capitalist and democratic convictions has collided with the authoritarian, centralized nature of the Maduro regime in a way that has exacerbated, rather than alleviated, the immense stress on the Venezuelan population. Combined with the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, these sanctions and ideological battles are proving deadly to the country’s citizens and its budding government opposition. The Critical Theory of International Relations demands that we as Americans re-evaluate our attitude towards Venezuela, keeping in mind the moral responsibilities we have to encourage freedom and justice. It is time to heed the call of a new moral expectation: to relieve Venezuelans’ suffering and rewrite our policies in a new era of global challenges.