Ethnopolitical challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic: international and national contexts

Abstract

The article considers the current ethno-political challenges caused by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures of the state to counter the spread of coronavirus infection. The analysis of humanitarian threats is carried out posed by the spread of the pandemic in the ethno-political sphere at the international and national levels. Attention is drawn to the growing vulnerability of certain ethnic and racial groups as a result of the pandemic, both from the coronavirus itself and from the socio-economic consequences of national governments' response to the pandemic. The aim of the article is to analyze the main ethno-political challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic at the international and national levels, as well as the priority goals of the policy to opposition the negative consequences of the spread of coronavirus in Ukraine.The article emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach to the analysis of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on "vulnerable" groups from minority communities, in particular – socio-economic factors that cause the spread of coronavirus infection in multicultural communities and reduce the effectiveness of government pandemic policies. Among the main challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic are the ethno-political consequences of the pandemic, which are the growing inequality of certain minority groups, discrimination and the conflict-generating potential of interethnic/racial relations within multicultural societies. The article emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach to the analysis of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on "vulnerable" groups from minority communities and the growing conflict potential of interethnic / racial relations within multicultural societies.The ethno-political factors of influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Ukrainian society, actual questions of formation and realization of the state policy in the ethnonational sphere concerning protection of vulnerable groups and counteraction to displays of interethnic intolerance are considered. The most vulnerable groups that have suffered the most from the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic and the forms of interethnic intolerance in Ukrainian society during this period have been identified. The article concludes that the effectiveness of the implemented anti-epidemic measures of national governments depends on the state policy in the ethno-political sphere. Also, the importance of further analysis and prevention of ethno-political challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to preserve the domestic political stability of the state and develop an effective policy of preserving interethnic harmony in Ukraine is stated.