Regardless of whether the COVID-19 virus is in fact the scourge of God as it is portrayed by the world media, or we are faced with yet another false apocalypse, of which there have been a lot in recent years (swine and bird flu, Ebola), panic attacks it is impossible to deny the mood and, consequently, the consequences of panic.

Which hits primarily in international as well as domestic relations. “All the flags will be with us, and we will reserve them in the open” - this is clearly not about today. The black death of the fourteenth century prompted people to retreat (as well as to escape wherever they look) and to close seaports - the Genoese sank their own ships trying to enter the harbor. Since then, little has changed.

See Pushkin, who wrote about cholera in 1830: “On the road, I met the Makaryevsky Fair, chased out by cholera. Poor fair! "She ran like a thief caught, scattering half of her goods, not having time to count her profits!” Today, in the same way, we receive news of the cancellation of the Paris Book Salon, the Leipzig Book Fair, the Geneva Motor Show, the Facebook Developer Congress, the Milan Fashion Show, etc. There is talk of canceling the Tokyo Olympics, or at least not allowing fans to attend it. Let certified athletes compete in a vacuum.

That is, the plague and cholera are still far away, but nations and states are increasingly behaving as if it already exists and is gathering a plentiful harvest.

But panic is panic, however, there are different types of relationships. There are strategic relations, that is, trade in basic goods: oil, bread, metals, chemistry, electronics, weapons. And equally the relations of the powers and foreign ministers. No paralysis is observed in this area: things are going on as they were, as if the scourge of God does not exist.

And there are relations of a not so necessary nature. Purely entertaining (tourism, for example) or sort of not quite entertaining, but which, as it turns out, can be safely abandoned. According to the principle of "For the seventh year poppy crop failure, but there is no famine."

In addition to some of the above, these include restrictions on the activities of PACE, OSCE and the European Parliament - in general, institutions are pretty pointless, and it’s not a secret to anyone, so no one really wants to be exposed to additional risk for the broadest coverage of the activities of these sinecures. The Venice Commission, which was about to study amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, also canceled its intentions.

The commission was the fifth wheel in the cart, and then there was the Italian disease. If the Venice Carnival was canceled, then the commission - God himself commanded.

And in particular the panic affected countless forums where notables go (and go) exactly with a massive search:

It used to be in bed:

Notes to him are carried.

What? Invitations? Indeed,

They call me on different forums.

The trouble, however, is small. The Yaroslavl Forum once shone in glory, where delegates were taken in whole echelons, and it cost a lot of money. But after 2011, due to the changed political circumstances, the forum was closed. And who now remembers him and what, in fact, humanity has lost?

Most likely, after not very long time, COVID-19 will become the same scary scarecrow that bird flu is today. That is, nothing, and fear traders will find something else.

However, today's panic provides a useful lesson: what measures and relationships are really necessary and need to be supported regardless of the epidemic threats or the visibility of such threats, and which ones can be painlessly abandoned and no one will notice.

The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.