World stability is getting shakier by the day thanks to Covid

This year will be notorious in history not just because of Covid-19 but because of the way it has been exploited. Look around the world and see what is going on. Russia is being more aggressive than ever. The Russian military are currently engaged in the biggest naval exercise off Alaska since the Cold War. And when a US B-52 bomber flew over the Black Sea in international airspace two Russian Su-27 Flanker jet fighters intercepted it in such a hair-raising manner, literally wooshing past the bomber's nose just 100ft away, that the US Air Force pilots must have thought a collision was imminent. It was Russian bravado at its most dangerous. The Pentagon complained but the Kremlin doesn't care. Then there's Turkey war-rattling with its old enemy, the Greeks, never mind that both countries are in the same Nato alliance. China loosed off some carrier-killing missiles in the South China Sea to remind the US that its nuclear-powered carriers are vulnerable if they come too close to what Beijing views as its domain. Everywhere governments are struggling to cope with the Covid pandemic, warning of second waves hitting their populations in the autumn. There is an overwhelming sense that governments have lost their grip, there are still too many unknowns about this virus. After half a year of fighting the virus, we are still at the pandemic's mercy. The longer it goes on the more, I fear, certain countries will seek to exploit it. What the world needs is stability and responsible leadership. We're not getting it.