Geopolitical competition of global powers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Despite the fact that the classical concept of geopolitics was first formed by Rudolf Kjellén in the early 20th century, modern experts in international relations still discuss the feasibility and relevance of these classical methods in today’s conditions. The academic debate revolves around new methods of geopolitical struggle in the foreign policy of the states in the international arena. Geographical features take a back seat, and economic, military, technological and informational factors come to the fore. The article’s aim is to analyse the impact of geopolitical competition of world leaders during the COVID-19 crisis. The author demonstrates the tendency of aggravation of geopolitical competition between the so-called Collective West and Chinese–Russian alliance. The degree of intensity of geopolitical competition poses a threat to the security and stability of the EU. To discuss the geopolitical competition, it is proposed to include the following issues: the main actors of geopolitical competition, the key methods of this competitiveness and their evolution under the coronavirus pandemic.