[Global Insight] Power games and quarrelling over masks: Why world leaders can't unite amid COVID-19
- 4 years ago
코로나 사태, 마스크 수출 금지에 분열된 세계 지도자들
The UN Secretary-General recently told the leaders of the world’s richest nations that every country on Earth is in a fight against the COVID-19 outbreak, but they are not winning it.
The recent pandemic has shown us that all the countries are essentially having to go it alone.
Huge organizations like the EU, the WHO or the UN Security Coucil have been unable to come together to tackle the crisis.
The pandemic is global, but the actions we're seeing are almost strictly down national lines.
So the big question: Can countries come together to overcome this unseen killer?
Today we have joining us Dr. Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a Reader of International Relations at King's College London, Dr. Joseph Bosco former China country director in the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense,... and Dr. Mark Shanahan, Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Reading in the UK.
Dr. Pacheco Pardo: Many Europeans have called for the issuance of joint European debt to fight the pandemic. But this has been met with resistance from Germany and the Netherlands.
How likely are the bitter feelings of 2008 to reemerge at this time?
Dr. Bosco: Across the Atlantic, the Trump administration asked 3M to stop exporting the masks to Canada and Latin America, which angered those nations. At the same time, officials in Berlin criticized the United States on Friday accusing it of diverting 200,000 masks from China. Meanwhile, China and Russia are giving away masks to European countries.
What do you make of this? Are some countries taking advantage of geopolitical cracks to expand their sphere of influence? What is the motivation for their actions?
Dr. Shanahan: UN Security Council members, in the past, came together to voice their resolve against threats to global security like al the 9/11 attacks to the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Why haven't we seen that kind of cooperation this time around?
Dr. Bosco: We've seen squabbling between the United States and China although over the past few days, they but they seem to have called a truce. Will this last and how can the US and China come together to fight this virus?
Dr. Shahanan: G20 leaders said in late March that they would do whatever it takes and called for global cooperation to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on public health and the economy. But the commitments haven't been translated into concrete actions. What kind of measures do you hope to see?
Dr. Pacheco Pardo: After the Second World War, we had the Marshall Plan to rebuild European economies. What kind of leadership do we need this time around?
Well that's all we have time for today.
It's been an interesting discussion. Thank you for joining us Dr. Ramon Pacheco Pardo in London, Dr. Joseph Bosco in Washington D.C. and Dr. Mark Shanahan in Reading.
The UN Secretary-General recently told the leaders of the world’s richest nations that every country on Earth is in a fight against the COVID-19 outbreak, but they are not winning it.
The recent pandemic has shown us that all the countries are essentially having to go it alone.
Huge organizations like the EU, the WHO or the UN Security Coucil have been unable to come together to tackle the crisis.
The pandemic is global, but the actions we're seeing are almost strictly down national lines.
So the big question: Can countries come together to overcome this unseen killer?
Today we have joining us Dr. Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a Reader of International Relations at King's College London, Dr. Joseph Bosco former China country director in the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense,... and Dr. Mark Shanahan, Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Reading in the UK.
Dr. Pacheco Pardo: Many Europeans have called for the issuance of joint European debt to fight the pandemic. But this has been met with resistance from Germany and the Netherlands.
How likely are the bitter feelings of 2008 to reemerge at this time?
Dr. Bosco: Across the Atlantic, the Trump administration asked 3M to stop exporting the masks to Canada and Latin America, which angered those nations. At the same time, officials in Berlin criticized the United States on Friday accusing it of diverting 200,000 masks from China. Meanwhile, China and Russia are giving away masks to European countries.
What do you make of this? Are some countries taking advantage of geopolitical cracks to expand their sphere of influence? What is the motivation for their actions?
Dr. Shanahan: UN Security Council members, in the past, came together to voice their resolve against threats to global security like al the 9/11 attacks to the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Why haven't we seen that kind of cooperation this time around?
Dr. Bosco: We've seen squabbling between the United States and China although over the past few days, they but they seem to have called a truce. Will this last and how can the US and China come together to fight this virus?
Dr. Shahanan: G20 leaders said in late March that they would do whatever it takes and called for global cooperation to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on public health and the economy. But the commitments haven't been translated into concrete actions. What kind of measures do you hope to see?
Dr. Pacheco Pardo: After the Second World War, we had the Marshall Plan to rebuild European economies. What kind of leadership do we need this time around?
Well that's all we have time for today.
It's been an interesting discussion. Thank you for joining us Dr. Ramon Pacheco Pardo in London, Dr. Joseph Bosco in Washington D.C. and Dr. Mark Shanahan in Reading.