Introduction

In this chapter, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent state responses are analyzed through multiple perspectives. Iran is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic. The number of positive cases in the country has risen to staggering proportions compared to the number of cases in other Middle Eastern nations. Prior to the onset of the pandemic, the socioeconomic conditions in Iran were already dire owing to the ongoing US campaign of sanctions and international pressure. These issues have been further exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in a lack of access to the most basic necessities and severe humanitarian concerns. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran, and around the world, and the subsequent failures of governments to adequately contain the virus demonstrate faults in the existing global order. In particular, the past year has shown how the disjointed and fragmented system of geopolitics and human relationships, established after the Second World War, is limited when it comes to addressing complex issues that are truly global in nature. As American foreign policy analyst and lawyer Anne- Marie Slaughter noted, we are often taught to see the world as a chessboard, where actors craft and implement strategies that are designed to promote their nation's interests. By focusing on the military and diplomatic prowess of our individual, sovereign nations, however, we fail to recognize how citizens around the world are individually impacted by policy decisions (Slaughter, 2017, pp. 5– 7).We also fail to establish meaningful connections and global processes for addressing crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Authors Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall similarly argue that the current global framework we operate within is inadequate. According to Zohar and Marshall, the original theories and laws of physical reality, made popular by figures such as Isaac Newton, Adam Smith, and Thomas Hobbes, stressed mechanistic physics. Mechanistic physics emphasized the existence of a vast gap between human beings and the physical world. These figures also pushed for frameworks that emphasized isolated and interchangeable parts. During the Enlightenment and for centuries afterward, these framings helped promote economic growth and technological innovation, including through the Industrial Revolution.