The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has exposed fundamental
weaknesses in many Western countries, including the United States and
its European allies, as they struggle to stem the tide of new cases and
respond to existing ones. Even though a significant portion of
the blame lies with China for covering up the early signs of what grew
into a pandemic, Beijing is now seeking to portray itself as a savior,
providing masks and testing kits to countries throughout the world.
China’s media has highlighted the country’s outreach to Europe, Africa,
and Asia, juxtaposing China’s benevolence with the United States.
Meanwhile, the United States is suffering from
a lack of testing kits, open hospital beds, and even basic necessities
like personal protective equipment for doctors, nurses, and medical
workers as COVID-19 cases surge. In previous times of crisis—the
HIV/AIDS epidemic and the Ebola crisis of 2014—the United States helped
lead an international response.
With COVID-19, Washington’s dearth of leadership is glaring, and will have long-lasting implications well beyond the current crisis.
By delivering much needed supplies and sending Chinese scientists and medical experts to offer advice, China is using diplomacy and soft power to recreate the narrative surrounding COVID-19. And from early indications, it seems to be working. Countries that would normally look to the United States in a time of crisis have observed Washington’s own failure to deal with the coronavirus.
Europe has also been shunned in favor of help from China. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic declared that, when it came to assistance in battling the coronavirus, ‘the only country that can help us is China,’ while obliquely referring to European solidarity as a ‘fairy tale’ that never existed. Russian disinformation efforts have exacerbated existing tensions and complicated government responses.
The reality is, the United States has been declining as a global power for some time now. The coronavirus has merely exposed this hard truth. By abdicating leadership on the most pressing challenges of our time, from combating climate change to championing human rights, the United States has allowed an authoritarian country like China to dominate the narrative of the coronavirus response, as Beijing gains access and influence through the provision of generous aid packages and foreign assistance. European countries were neither consulted nor informed before the Trump administration imposed a travel ban on their citizens. China is effectively exploiting this rift in transatlantic relations.
Germans were furious when a story was published allegations reporting that U.S. President Donald Trump was aggressively pursuing the purchase of a German biopharmaceutical company, CureVac, in order to obtain ‘exclusive access’ to a potential coronavirus vaccine. To President Trump’s supporters, this is simply ‘America First’ operationalized. To the rest of the world, it shows an America out of touch with reality, no longer a symbol of hope that it has been for hundreds of millions of people throughout the world for decades on end.
Read more at: Coronavirus Pandemic Exposes the Drastic Absence of U.S. Global Leadership – Homeland Security Today
With COVID-19, Washington’s dearth of leadership is glaring, and will have long-lasting implications well beyond the current crisis.
By delivering much needed supplies and sending Chinese scientists and medical experts to offer advice, China is using diplomacy and soft power to recreate the narrative surrounding COVID-19. And from early indications, it seems to be working. Countries that would normally look to the United States in a time of crisis have observed Washington’s own failure to deal with the coronavirus.
Europe has also been shunned in favor of help from China. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic declared that, when it came to assistance in battling the coronavirus, ‘the only country that can help us is China,’ while obliquely referring to European solidarity as a ‘fairy tale’ that never existed. Russian disinformation efforts have exacerbated existing tensions and complicated government responses.
The reality is, the United States has been declining as a global power for some time now. The coronavirus has merely exposed this hard truth. By abdicating leadership on the most pressing challenges of our time, from combating climate change to championing human rights, the United States has allowed an authoritarian country like China to dominate the narrative of the coronavirus response, as Beijing gains access and influence through the provision of generous aid packages and foreign assistance. European countries were neither consulted nor informed before the Trump administration imposed a travel ban on their citizens. China is effectively exploiting this rift in transatlantic relations.
Germans were furious when a story was published allegations reporting that U.S. President Donald Trump was aggressively pursuing the purchase of a German biopharmaceutical company, CureVac, in order to obtain ‘exclusive access’ to a potential coronavirus vaccine. To President Trump’s supporters, this is simply ‘America First’ operationalized. To the rest of the world, it shows an America out of touch with reality, no longer a symbol of hope that it has been for hundreds of millions of people throughout the world for decades on end.
Read more at: Coronavirus Pandemic Exposes the Drastic Absence of U.S. Global Leadership – Homeland Security Today
No comments:
Post a Comment