Using the developments in key multinational states, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, and the United States, this book explores both the impact of the pandemic on nationalism and the broader multinational state as well as the significance of multinationalism for the response to the pandemic. Exogenous forces have the potential to significantly impact the shape and dynamics of multinational democracies. The Covid-19 pandemic is one such powerful exogenous force. The chapters in this edited volume, therefore, investigate the following questions: (1) How has multinationalism shaped the response to the crisis? (2) How has the crisis affected the self-determination objectives and strategies of the nationalist movement? (3) Have national divides (as observed, for example, in public opinion and in statements from politicians) become more or less salient during, and as a result of, the crisis? (4) What issues have produced tensions between national communities, or between minority nations and the state? (5) What governments, parties, or individual politicians have most gained or lost from the crisis in terms of putting forward or managing self-determination claims? (6) What could be the impact of the crisis on the nationalist movement and on the multinational state as a whole? The book will be essential reading for academics, researchers, and policy-makers of political science interested in the fields of federal theory, multinationalism, minorities and natural disasters. This book was originally published as a special issue of Nationalism and Ethnic Politics and is accompanied by a new concluding chapter.

How have decision-makers in Westminster and beyond fanned the flames of national division? Can this disunited kingdom come together once again?

The COVID-19 pandemic bared the inadequacies in existing structures of public health and governance in most countries. This book provides a comparative analysis of policy approaches and planning adopted by federal governments across the globe to battle and adequately respond to the health emergency as well as the socio-economic fallouts of the pandemic. With twenty-four case studies from across the globe, the book critically analyzes responses to the public health crisis, its fiscal impact and management, as well as decision-making and collaboration between different levels of government of countries worldwide. It explores measures taken to contain the pandemic and to responsibly regulate and manage the health, socio-economic welfare, employment, and education of its people. The authors highlight the deficiencies in planning, tensions between state and local governments, politicization of the crisis, and the challenges of generating political consensus. They also examine effective approaches used to foster greater cooperation and learning for multi-level, polycentric innovation in pandemic governance. One of the first books on federalism and approaches to the COVID-19 pandemic, this volume is an indispensable reference for scholars and researchers of comparative federalism, comparative politics, development studies, political science, public policy and governance, health and wellbeing, and political sociology.

Have the countries' internal boundaries played a role in the response to the Covid-19 epidemic? What does the coronavirus crisis tell us about the sometimes strained relationship between national and regional/federal governments? This collective loock at the short- and medium term impact of the COVID-19 crisis on relations between central and regional governments.

The COVID-19 health crisis came as a tremendous shock to the world, and to the EU more particularly, only a few years after the Eurozone crisis. The pandemic exacerbated the old structural differences in the economic models between the South and the North of Europe. However, this time, the response of the EU was of a completely different nature: an impressive array of fiscal and monetary policy instruments was mobilized to counteract the shock of the pandemic and to restore confidence. Is there reason to be optimistic in these times of uncertainty? This volume explores possible answers to this question, bringing together several renowned European intellectuals and experts from the fields of economics, law, and public policy to offer their thoughts. The book will stimulate discussion on the quality of institutions and growth sustainability, and contains ideas on the future of Europe and the reorganization of European economic governance. It analyzes the basic fiscal and monetary policy tools used by the EU to tackle the Eurozone and COVID-19 pandemic crises. Several aspects of the EU Banking Union and possible structural reforms of the banking sector are also discussed, as is the role of Credit Rating Agencies as tools of economic prediction.

Focusing on the policy approaches of Conservative governments since 2015, this book examines key social policy areas including education, health, housing, employment, children and young people, and more. Respected social policy researchers explore the degree to which the positions and policies of recent Conservative governments have differed from the previous Coalition government (2010–15). They consider the extent to which austerity has continued and the influence of other policy emphases, such as a ‘levelling up’ agenda. Reflecting on the rapid changes of Prime Minister, they compare the themes of the Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak administrations, critically examine the impacts of the external shocks of Brexit and COVID-19, and the changing patterns of public expenditure.

In 1861, just a few years before Confederation, 84 per cent of Canadians lived in rural areas; today, it’s less than 20 per cent. Our municipal governments are asked to do more for their citizens than ever before, yet they must confront myriad challenges – from the public health pandemic to the housing crisis – without the tools they need. They have no constitutional protection from jurisdictional overstepping by provincial governments and no assurance that they will be able to complete any effort they undertake. The Past, Present, and Future of Canadian Cities explores the historical functions of municipalities, their current ability to tackle major problems, and what the future holds for shifting legal and political powers. This volume examines how pre-Confederation cities came to have their current constitutional and legislative forms; how current local governments make decisions within existing legal parameters, highlighting Indigenous-municipal relationships and emergency management; and, finally, looks to the world to investigate future innovation in municipal governance. The Past, Present, and Future of Canadian Cities makes the case that constitutional concepts must be repurposed to support the transition from nation-building to city-building in a global context.

This book examines the problem of constitutional change in times of crisis. Divided into five main parts, it both explores and interrogates how public law manages change in periods of extraordinary pressure on the constitution. In Part I, “Emergency, Exception and Normalcy,” the contributors discuss the practices and methods that could be used to help legitimize the use of emergency powers without compromising the constitutional principles that were created during a period of normalcy. In Part II, “Terrorism and Warfare,” the contributors assess how constitutions are interpreted during times of war, focusing on the tension between individual rights and safety. Part III, “Public Health, Financial and Economic Crises,” considers how constitutions change in response to crises that are neither political in the conventional sense nor violent, which also complicates how we evaluate constitutional resilience in times of stress. Part IV, “Constitutionalism for Divided Societies,” then investigates the pressure on constitutions designed to govern diverse, multi-national populations, and how constitutional structures can facilitate stability and balance in these states. Part V, titled “Constitution-Making and Constitutional Change,” highlights how constitutions are transformed or created anew during periods of tension. The book concludes with a rich contextual discussion of the pressing challenges facing constitutions in moments of extreme pressure. Chapter “Public Health Emergencies and Constitutionalism Before COVID-19: Between the National and the International” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This publication is the result of months of on-the-ground research at a time of unprecedented upheaval. Not only was Saudi Arabia already in the midst of an economic revolution aimed at diversifying away from oil and gas, but COVID-19 also upended the very way business is conducted, putting to the test many of the digitalization initiatives carried out in recent years. The pandemic thus served as a validation of many of Saudi Arabia's internal reforms. It also created massive opportunities for some of the nation's up-and-coming businesses. In this 246-page publication, we show how technology completely changed the Kingdom during the pandemic. Things will never be the same. It covers finance, payments and fintech, IT and digitalization, industry, water and energy, aviation and defense, transport and logistics, construction and real estate, agriculture, health, education, and tourism.

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected global trade. While factories have stopped production worldwide due to COVID-19, global trade has also been adversely affected by the pandemic. The international trade of the world’s top exporting countries has begun to decline. Although it is too early to judge the impact of the pandemic on world trade, as the virus has not yet been eradicated, research into the cause-effect relationship between these two phenomena is necessary to understand the magnitude of its impact as well as possible solutions to the problem. The Transformation of Global Trade in a New World provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest findings in the field of international business and internationalization. It addresses the asymmetric impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international trade and the methods of entry into foreign markets together with the future prospects of global trade in an era of globalization. Covering topics such as economic crisis, green finance, and labor force sustainability, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for business leaders and executives, economists, logistics professionals, sociologists, students and faculty of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.