Pandemic threatens stability, demands ‘coordinated global action,’ says Susan Rice

Susan Rice: Yes, of course it is. But the reality is that while we might focus internally in the short term, unless we are able to cooperate globally in the medium to long term, we may shut [coronavirus] down in China or shut it down, you know, in South Korea, but if it springs up in Africa or springs up in India, it’s just going to start another global wave.

It’s certainly one venue where it might be taking place. It’s remarkable to me that, in contrast to 2014, when we were dealing with the Ebola epidemic — which obviously was a different sort of a disease, but one that had the world quite rightly scared and costs tens of lives in West Africa — we used the United Nations under President Obama. We convened a summit with the UN secretary general at the United Nations and brought countries together to spur their collective response. It was a collective action.

In the past, the United Nations Security Council has convened around disease threats, including the HIV AIDS threat back in 2000. So it’s not unheard of or unprecedented for that to happen. And yet, when you have a leadership in Washington and in the White House that seems to disdain collective action, even disparage cooperation with our allies, what seems to be the last thing that would occur to them is to use institutions like the United Nations or to draw on the capacity of the World Health Organization — which has its failings, but in this case, seemingly well outperform the United States government in its ability to help countries respond.

Well, I think this is a moment of dangerous friction and mutual recrimination that, frankly, needs to stop. And for the president of the United States and those around him to race bait and brand this “Chinese virus” or a “Wuhan flu” or other offensive terms like that is completely inappropriate and unhelpful and unacceptable. It is the case that the virus originated in China. It’s also the case that the 2009 H1N1 flu virus, which was extremely deadly globaly, originated in North America, as did, I understand, the so-called Spanish flu back in 1918. So there is no advantage in recrimination about where it began. The issue is how do we deal with it?

And we have reasons to be critical with how China dealt with it in the early stages. No doubt. But people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. The administration’s response to the coronavirus in this country, it’s delay, it’s denial, it’s deception, and now it’s utter incompetence to deal with critical things like testing, like getting medical supplies, personal protective equipment, ventilators and the like urgently out to those hospitals that need them — I mean, I could go on. I think the American people are well aware this has been a bungled, botched response. And rather than throwing stones at China and China, throwing stones at the United States, and it’s been two ways, we all need to focus on the imperative of dealing with this crisis, the health crisis and the economic crisis. And realize that over the long run we’re not going to deal with either in isolation.

Well, for better or for worse, are two economies are the largest in the world. They’re deeply intertwined. Our supply chains are intertwined. Our technologies are intertwined. And as much as some on both sides may have a fantasy of decoupling our economies, I don’t do believe that that’s feasible. It’s certainly not desirable because at the end of the day, that will leave us in competition for smaller slices of a global pie. And each of us will be poorer as a result. So we’ve got to get through this crisis. We’ve got to minimize the vitriol and the hostile rhetoric on both sides.

I’m not particularly interested in how he wants to market himself. I’m interested in whether he’s going to finally step up and lead decisively, dispassionately, responsibly, credibly, and get to the American people the medical and economic relief that we need to get through this crisis together.