The World Health Organization and their response to covid and its effect on International politics.

The World Health Organization and their response to covid and its effect on International politics. Showing how World Wide Organizations do not hold much power to enforce policies onto sovereign states. How sovereign states did not follow policies that the World Health Organization made. 

• Don’t get into to much about what the realists would say focus on what it does what it does not do what is the point 

• Small piece of what a realist would say about World Organizations like the HO

• How does the World Health Organization help the states who are members 

• What is the World Health Organization faults

• What does covid show us about these world wide organisations using the WHO as an example

• What was the position of the WHO in international politics? Did they affect a lot of things and help or did they make it worse because of the no cooperation from sovereign states. 

Showing how a world organisation using WHO as an example during covid that they don’t have much control in enforcing policies that they create because sovereign states like being free and will do what they want anyway with no repercussions. 

Intro & Thesis: World organisations are limited to their power with enforcement. Everybody needs to comply for this to work but this won’t happen. Explain WHO and its relevance. 

• Using America as an example during covid President Trump removed the country from the WHO, and when President Biden came to office he re-established our country into the WHO. This shows from the realist perspective that world organisations do not help all that much because sovereign states can do what they want because these organisations like the WHO do not have the authority to enforce their policies that they have created.  

First Paragraph- Possible points to make: 

• Larson, M. (2022). The World Health Organization, the Trump Administration, American Public Opinion, and China: A Principal-Agent Problem (Order No. 29992503). Available from ProQuest One Academic. (2774797579). http://ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/world-health-organization-trump-administration/docview/2774797579/se-2 

• Talk about how covid put a stress test on the organisation in a fast amount of time showing their benefits and flaws as being a world organisation trying to navigate the pandemic. Why did things go wrong and why did their policies not work in some countries that did not listen to their policies. 

• “As the WHO attempted to guide the world, it received push-back and criticism from various members, such as the United States.” 

• “As international organisations (IOs) continue to function as tools for states, they remain of great interest in studying international relations. Their natural relationships with states illuminate both strengths and weaknesses”

• “Traditionally speaking, the WHO maintains little power over its member states, as it primarily serves as an advisory body. Because of this factor, member states mainly rely on the WHO when they feel inadequately prepared for a health or humanitarian emergency” 

• “On May 29, 2020, the Trump Administration withdrew the US from the WHO. Trump stated that “because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving, urgent global public health needs.” 

• Experts disagreeing with Trump on being removed from WHO

• (PAGE 46 DISCUSSES REALISM AND THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION)

• “My second and primary argument is as follows: Because the WHO cannot exert power over its Member States due to sovereignty, it is unable to perform during certain health crises adequately”

• “In its basic form, realism does not even acknowledge the existence of organisations like the WHO.”

Second Paragraph:

• Possible points to make: Both takes worked for both countries, differing governments and communities might require different strategies. Comparison of these two vs the US. Usage of media by governments. Slightly approaches but overall very alike, which worked well in both cases. 

• National Institute of Health

• “Based on the findings of the circuit of culture, New Zealand’s communication response was different to Australia’s, although the outcome appeared to be similar. Certainly, at the time, New Zealand appeared to emerge with a strengthened national identity. This, while Australia’s sense of belonging appeared to become more fragmented and aligned at a state and territory level.”

• “New Zealand’s ‘team of 5 million’ approach suggested a level of community and solidarity, whilst Australia’s key focus appeared to be on ‘saving face’, message control and the economy.”

• “Australia and New Zealand appear to have a lot in common. Indeed, international media reporting during the first months of the global pandemic has positioned both countries as alike. Both were singled out as success stories during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic; both have self-contained borders, making it ostensibly easier to close themselves off from the rest of the world in a bid to stem the tide of COVID-19.”

• “In both cases, communication responses to the global pandemic resulted in increasingly inward-looking identities, emphasising national wellbeing and lifestyle ahead of global connectedness.”

• “Based solely on economic and health outcomes, both countries’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to have resulted in similar, satisfactory results at the end of the first twelve months.”

Third Paragraph:

Possible points to make: The US and how the government handled it, (How the world organisation and their lack of control in the US maybe caused for the overall handling of COVID to be poor), as well as what can generally help a country deal with this kind of crisis. How the people complying helps this run smoother. 

• Brown University School of Public Health – 

• “Today, it is an unquestioned fact that the United States was unprepared for COVID-19. That was the reality faced across the country and across society. The U.S., which accounts for less than five percent of the world’s population, accounts for more than 15 percent of the officially reported COVID deaths, upwards of 6.5 million as of May 2023”( )-

• Ideally, the US government would pass legislation to create a serious bipartisan audit of its COVID experience—one that opens the books on efforts of the Biden, Trump, and earlier Administrations to prepare for and respond to pandemic threats.

• Preparedness, encompassing the tools that are amassed and the actions taken prior to an emergency, represents only the first half of the equation. The second part entails response – what countries actually do during a health emergency.

• How governments, organisations, and individuals will use their capacities and overcome risk factors will ultimately determine the number of lives that will be saved or lost.

• Existing preparedness capacities not as functional as previously thought

• Failed to update quickly enough to avoid issues

• Center for Disease Control

• Johns Hopkins University

• International Review of Administrative Sciences

• https://www.who.int/about –The World Health Organization was “Founded in 1948, WHO is the United Nations agency that connects nations, partners and people to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable – so everyone, everywhere can attain the highest level of health”( )

• What does the World Health Organization do, from their website it says that they  “lead global efforts to expand universal health coverage. We direct and coordinate the world’s response to health emergencies. And we promote healthier lives – from pregnancy care through old age. Our Triple Billion targets outline an ambitious plan for the world to achieve good health for all using science-based policies and programmes”( )