While Washington has done well to guard against immediate coronavirus catastrophe, the United States must lead from the front in key areas of health, economy and defense of liberal values to save the current world order, foreign policy giant Henry Kissinger argues in an opinion piece.
In an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal, Kissinger underscores the political and economic upheaval unleashed by COVID-19 could last for generations.
“No country, not even the U.S., can in a purely national effort overcome the virus,” the former secretary of state, writes.
“Addressing the necessities of the moment must ultimately be coupled with a global collaborative vision and program. If we cannot do both in tandem, we will face the worst of each,” the author of several books emphasizes.
President Donald Trump meets with former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Wednesday, May 10, 2017, Image: White House/Public Domain/Wikimedia
Kissinger, who led a game-changing U.S. diplomatic effort to establish relations with China in the 1970s, does not elaborate on what might happen to world’s major players or who might benefit. But he warns that failure on part of global leaders to manage the still unfolding crisis “could set the world on fire.”
In making the case for U.S. leadership, Kissinger invokes WWII U.S. leadership with Marshall Plan and the Manhattan Project, and says America is obliged to undertake a major effective effort in three domains.
“First, shore up global resilience to infectious disease… Second, strive to heal the wounds to the world economy…Third, safeguard the principles of the liberal world order.”
He also notes the difficulty of living up to the challenge at a time when countries are focusing nationally.At the same time, he cautions that that “the virus’s society-dissolving effects do not recognize borders.”
The world’s democracies, he says, need to defend and sustain their Enlightenment values.
“A global retreat from balancing power with legitimacy will cause the social contract to disintegrate both domestically and internationally. Yet this millennial issue of legitimacy and power cannot be settled simultaneously with the effort to overcome the Covid-19 plague. Restraint is necessary on all sides—in both domestic politics and international diplomacy.”
