ORIENTS SOCIAL RESEARCH CONSULTANCY (OSRC) & PAKISTAN LANGUAGES AND HUMANITIES REVIEW (PLHR) adheres to Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. The authors submitting and publishing in PLHR agree to the copyright policy under creative common license 4.0 (Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International license). Under this license, the authors published in PLHR retain the copyright including publishing rights of their scholarly work and agree to let others remix, tweak, and build upon their work non-commercially. All other authors using the content of PLHR are required to cite author(s) and publisher in their work. Therefore, ORIENTS SOCIAL RESEARCH CONSULTANCY (OSRC) & PAKISTAN LANGUAGES AND HUMANITIES REVIEW (PLHR) follow an Open Access Policy for copyright and licensing.
How to Cite
Conspiracy Theories Amid COVID Crisis: A Causal-Comparative Analysis of Global Power Policies Employing and Highlighting Cultural Diplomacy
Abstract
COVID-19 pandemic outbreak carries many conspiracy theories along. Conspiracy theories like whether it is a lab-created virus; 5G network usage; or involvement of Bill Gates; a biological war tactic of the United States against China, or as a global hoax etc. Powerful states utilize the conspiracy theory as populist approach. They employ ‘group polarization’ and ‘vicious cycle of suspicion’ as two major tactics of populism in power politics. Its implications are observed on international politics by converging reliance of developing states on power elites. Developing cultural diplomacy progressively ensures collective interest and security through exchange of ideas. In larger context, its usage will transform cross-cultural ties in pandemic crisis, globally. Research employs qualitative-phenomenological method using causal-comparative analysis of cultural diplomacy factors, practiced through foreign policies of VETO powers. It finds how COVID crisis is responded by these countries and their impact on cross national ties by enhancing cultural diplomacy.
Authors
Dr. Sehrish Qayyum
Academic Advisor, Pakistan Navy War College (PNWC) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Dr. Umbreen Javaid
Dean, Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Keywords
Conspiracy Theories, COVID Crisis, Cultural Diplomacy, Group Polarization, Power Politics
