Critical Muslim 37

Description

The coronavirus has upended the post-World War II narrative in global affairs, as the United States and the European Union struggle to contain what may well become the deadliest pandemic in a century. Countries with some of the world’s most advanced biomedical research systems were slow to lock down, slow to set up testing and contact-tracing, slow to equip their health workers with personal protective equipment, and slow to mandate mask-wearing in their populations. This has been in contrast with other countries—especially in Asia—which are further on the road to eliminating the virus completely. In much of Africa, too, where HIV and Ebola have helped to prepare public health systems for epidemics, the policy response has been of a higher quality than that in much richer nations. In this issue of Critical Muslim, we explore the impact of the virus on the world, examining how different countries have responded to the pandemic; why the science and health policies of richer nations were found wanting; and the implications for a post-pandemic future.

Editor(s)

Ziauddin Sardar is an award-winning, internationally renowned writer, futurist and cultural critic. His many books include Three Begums; Reading the Qur’an and A Person of Pakistani Origins (all published by Hurst); Mecca: The Sacred City; and Desperately Seeking Paradise: Journeys of a Sceptical Muslim. A former New Statesman columnist and UK equality and human rights commissioner, he is Editor of the influential quarterly Critical Muslim.