Imperial Pandemicide

Objective: To provide a quick, in the moment analysis of the social and political aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic to preserve the possibly ephemeral aspects that might be overlooked in future historical studies. Methods: Qualitative and a statistical analyses of real time information. Results: The clustering of former imperial powers as states suffering extreme initial impacts, combined with a brief qualitative commentary on the domestic politics related to the pandemic response, suggests that colonial imperialism has lingering domestic political effects. Conclusion: The domestic political power bases that enabled colonial imperialism may be a significant and previously unrecognized factor in politics both in the context of disaster response and more broadly.