Mediterranean economies 2021-2022. The Mediterranean after the calamity: economics and politics in the post-pandemic world

The coronavirus pandemic has shocked the world and its consequences will last for many years. The enormous costs of the pandemic will only be known ex post. While some people will have lost nothing, others will have lost everything, sometimes even their lives. On the positive side, most governments around the globe have started to design optimal policies to face the incredible challenges that lie ahead for the humanity. The geopolitics of the world will change as a result of increasing tensions and conflicts between the great powers such as the United States, China and Russia. The competition between democracy and authoritarianism will intensify; the synergy of market and state will be transformed. It will be particularly dangerous to see two sides of the same coin as alternatives: neoliberal capitalism versus populist capitalism. The Mediterranean Economies 2020 is a collection of essays that analyses the economic, political and social effects of the pandemic on the regions of the Mediter - ranean area. The results of the investigation carried out highlight that chance for a better future could be created by a gradual transition to a new pragmatism, a strategy of moderation in economic matters, and development that is sustainable on three levels - economic, social and ecological. The pandemic is an enormous challenge for the social sciences, because old ways of thinking often prove useless for analyzing and explaining new scenarios.