The COVID-19 global pandemic has shown to the world that no governments from either developed or developing nations were equipped and ready to prevent, or to manage, such an abrupt external shock. This policy paper reviews the process of COVID-19 global contagion, together with the policy responses from leading governments and international organizations. It explains how COVID-19 transformed from an exogenous shock to a global systemic shock and recommends a credible, coordinated collective global response to facing the pandemic and paving the way towards a resilient global system.
