The viral interlude has turned out to be a historic disruption. For a while, an effective state of emergency reigned in almost every country on Earth. Whole national populations were told to stay home, and a biomedical police state sprang into being as national pandemic plans were dusted off and chief medical officers became celebrities.
Then the diverse national lockdowns were slowly relaxed. But the political life of the world was still frozen. This worldwide political stasis was challenged first by Hong Kong demonstrators, and then collapsed entirely with the revival of Black Lives Matter in America and allied countries.
The return of Hong Kong unrest was swiftly suppressed, and China's political consultative conference made Hong Kong security law a priority on a par with the national economy. But in America, economic frustration provided fuel, first for looting and burning, and then a highly politicized social-justice movement in which almost every business and public figure pledged allegiance to BLM. Most likely it was the unofficial beginning of the 2020 general election campaign, with the Democrats campaigning for police reform (or even to 'end white supremacy'), while the Republicans would prioritize the maintenance of law and order.
Coronavirus continued to spread in the developing world, in countries like Brazil and India. While dealing with a version of the double crisis of economy and public health facing every country, India had a border clash with China, and initiated a strategic partnership with Australia. Australia has for some time had to choose between its economic relationship with China and its political-security relationship with America, and perhaps the moment of de-globalization imposed by lockdown, was used to seek new economic and strategic ties. Meanwhile, in Brazil, the Bolsonaro government sought to celebrate the ethos of military rule in the 1960s, with more and more generals joining the cabinet.
Russia delayed BRICS and SCO summits and a constitutional referendum due in July (and Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, a major figure of the Putin era, was given the new responsibility of overseeing genetic technology in Russia). America postponed a G7 summit due in June (and Trump proposed to expand the group to include Russia and India). The OECD predicted a global economic contraction of 6%. (Owing to population growth, annual economic growth of 3% is regarded as needed just to keep living standards the same.)
