Colder, Professor at Johns Hopkins University, USA: "Protectionism Strengthened After COVID-19 Pandemic... Major Countries to Expand Reshoring"

KDI Graduate School of International Policy, on the 5th, held a Korea-US expert video conference on the theme of 'Changes in the World Order in the Post-Corona Era'

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Kent Calder, Director of the East Asia Studies Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in the US, predicted that global protectionism will strengthen after the COVID-19 pandemic, and major countries will further expand reshoring (the return of domestic companies that had expanded overseas) efforts.

On the 8th, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) announced that Professor Calder made these remarks during the Korea-US expert video conference held on the 5th at the Graduate School of International Policy on the theme of 'Changes in the World Order in the Post-Corona Era.'

The video conference included Yu Jong-il, Dean of the KDI Graduate School of International Policy, and Professor Lim Won-hyuk from KDI as Korean discussants, and Professor Stephan Haggard from the University of California, San Diego, and Director Calder as US discussants.

At the meeting, Director Calder stated, "International trade will undergo significant political and social changes after the pandemic," and argued that "beyond the US-China hegemonic competition after COVID-19, a new form of global governance must be sought."

Professor Haggard predicted that the entire world will face a completely new order. He said, "Due to the direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19, such as the global increase in death tolls and past financial crises in emerging markets, even developed countries will suffer serious damage," and emphasized that "the role of governments in the post-corona era requires a balance between 'public health' and 'individual freedom rights.' The Korean government's COVID-19 response system was transparent and democratic, unlike the authoritarian response of the Chinese government," he evaluated.

Korean discussants Dean Yu and Professor Lim emphasized the importance of international cooperation. Dean Yu stated, "It is important to establish a new diplomatic strategy to overcome the difficulties Korea will face amid escalating US-China conflicts," and added, "International cooperation is essential to solve global common challenges such as COVID-19, climate change, and economic crisis recovery." Professor Lim also said, "Based on lessons learned from the initial response failure during the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak, a future COVID-19 response system must be established, and cooperation between countries is important in the changed international order."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.