Abstract
Beginning December 2019 in Wuhan in China’s Hubei province, Coronavirus (Covid -19) has overwhelmed the healthcare systems and affecting education, travels, events and the economies worldwide. Governments all over have taken or bracing themselves to take extraordinary measures to contain the threat. In some countries, the measures taken to contain the epidemic appear as putting the nation under a state of siege. Some governments are adapting rather extreme measures – complete lock-down of the cities, the provinces and even the country itself, school closures, travel ban, cancellation of flights. Questions are being asked about how much freedom we are prepared to give up, for how long and onto whose hands?
 
 
 The paper argues that with threats and vulnerabilities transcending national boundaries and challenging most advanced knowledge and information systems in this era of intense globalization, the need for harsh and often draconian measures can hardly be over emphasized. At the same time there could be problems and unwelcome consequences in putting too much power in the hands of the governments dealing with the threat for an indefinite period of time. In view of this, the securitization framework as put forth by the Copenhagen School could be a better tool to deal with situations of unexpected crises such as what SARS epidemic proved it to be or what Covid-19 would inevitably entail
Highlights
Beginning December 2019 in Wuhan in China’s Hubei province, a new epidemic – Coronavirus (Covid -19) has metamorphosed itself into a major threat overwhelming the healthcare systems and affecting education, travels, events and the economies at large.Governments all over have taken extraordinary measures to contain the threat which as WHO declared has become a global pandemic.[1]
The securitization framework as put forth by the Copenhagen School could be a better tool to deal with situations of unexpected crises such as what SARS epidemic proved it to be or what Covid-19 would inevitably entail
In the post-Cold War era, the emerging security debates followed a period of disorientation when new challenges appeared and the dominant neo-realist discourse was found by some scholars to be deficient in providing a relevant framework of analysis.[4]
Summary
In the post-Cold War era, the emerging security debates followed a period of disorientation when new challenges appeared and the dominant neo-realist discourse was found by some scholars to be deficient in providing a relevant framework of analysis.[4]. A particular development is moved into a specific area, thereby making it possible to legitimize the use of whatever means are necessary to block it.[17] In this sense, a problem becomes a security problem through a so-called “speech act”[18] arising out of discursive practices within a state, 19 in order to pose problematic issues as existential threats and claim special right to deal with those. In other words an issue becomes securitized when leaders (whether political, societal, or intellectual) begin to talk about it- and attempt to gain the ear of the public and the state- in terms of the existential threat against some valued referent object.[41] Though the response of the governments in the countries affected by the Covid- 19 epidemic varies, most treat the outbreak as a national security threat. To the extent that comparisons of how one government has dealt with a global crisis as compared to another are being routinely made, it is only appropriate that the governments understood the importance of global codes of conduct where transparency and accountability are becoming increasingly important. 59
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