Najam Interviewed on the Politics of Lockdowns
Prof. Adil Najam, dean of the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University and professor of international relations and earth and environment, was interviewed by various Pakistan TV news shows, including Barri Baat on Hum News TV (April 28, 2020) on various aspects of the politics of COVID-19 lockdowns – both on imposing and on then relaxing them.
In the context of Pakistan’s own political struggles with imposing a national or regional lockdowns and as some countries, like, New Zealand begin relaxing their lockdowns, Najam stressed that there is a very real difference between relaxing a lockdown because it has been successful in reducing the COVID-19 stress and doing so because a government is simply not able to, or wishes to, implement it. “The politics of lockdowns,” he said, “have become a surrogate for the level of societal trust that different countries and communities have.” He added that, “very often, it is that societal trust that is the difference between a well-managed and a botched response to COVID-19.”
Adil Najam is the Inaugural Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University and was the former Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Currently he is hosting a video expert interview series called #WorldAfterCorona for the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. Read more about him here.