National and Global Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic

“This stimulating book offers food for thought on the relationship between leadership styles, populism, and the effectiveness of the response to the COVID-19 crisis.” —Gilda Sensales, Associate Professor of Social and Political Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome. “This is an important book which deserves to be widely read.”—James Mayall, Emeritus Professor of International Relations, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of British Academy. “Bhalla’s skills underlying his previous books shine through in this wide-ranging, sometime brutally incisive, analysis of responses to the Covid pandemic.”—Lindsay Greer, former Head, School of Physical Sciences, University of Cambridge. “Ajit Bhalla understands the vital importance of leadership in mitigating impacts and exiting disasters and near disasters.” —Dame Sandra Dawson, former Director, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. “The book is a fascinating read and offers an impressive overview of the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic.” —K. Sujatha Rao, former Union Health Secretary, Government of India. “Heavily readable and evidence based, the book transcends the boundaries of any one specialty, and must be read by individuals from different areas of interest.” —Chandrakant Lahariya, co-author of Till we win: India’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. This book traces the evolution of Covid across different geographic regions, showing how the varying responses of leaders, citizens and other key stakeholders in efforts to tackle the Covid crisis determined outcomes. It finds that leadership, in particular, played a critical role, while initial conditions, such as health-care spending and infrastructure are important factors contributing to a country’s preparedness in coping with a pandemic. Dr A.S. Bhalla is former Fellow, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge,UK.