Editor's note: Andrew Korybko is a Moscow-based American political analyst. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The Trump administration's "America First" policies have had the unintended effect of making COVID-19 the last of the U.S. priorities. The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is a big supporter of the mantra - instead of focusing on formulating a tangible, multilateral response to this disease, he has been too preoccupied with what many of his policymakers refer to as the "Greater Middle East" in parallel with bashing China. In fact, it can even be argued that Pompeo almost seems to be deliberately avoiding his duty to rally global support against the greatest threat since World War II.

Jackson Diehl, The Washington Post's Deputy Editorial Page Editor, published a scathing piece on 29 March about how "Pompeo's pandemic performance ensures his place among the worst secretaries of state ever" where he excoriates the top diplomat for his irrelevant activities during the last week of March. From lobbing accusations against the Iranian Ayatollah of covering up his country's COVID-19 death toll to visiting Afghanistan before cutting aid to it and then politicizing the G7, Pompeo's apparently been busy with all but the virus.

Diehl also pointed out how the Trump Administration's policy of continuing the sanctions against Iran during this crisis is opposed by some American allies such as the UK, as well as the fact that it was completely unnecessary to sabotage the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting by demanding that his counterparts agree to a joint communiqué containing the politically weaponized term "Wuhan virus". They refused, and this bloc's Foreign Ministers meeting predictably failed to achieve any real results because of it.

The Deputy Editorial Page Editor also remarked how ridiculous it was for Pompeo to lobby the Saudi Crown Prince ahead of last week's G20 leaders video conference to curtail his country's oil price competition with Russia. While that issue is very important for the multibillion-dollar American shale energy industry that's temporarily shutting down as a result of record-low prices that make extraction unprofitable, it pales in comparison to the global importance of countering COVID-19.

Diehl concludes his diatribe by writing that "much of what he did last week was no doubt aimed to please his boss, the prime promoter of 'America First'", but "that doesn't change how this Secretary of State will be regarded by history: Pompeo's pandemic performance will ensure his place among the worst ever." Although it may seem like an exaggeration to label Pompeo as being among the worst secretary of states ever, Diehl has a point since the top diplomat's legacy will largely be defined based on how he responds to this global crisis.

Thus far, Pompeo's interests lay more with the "Greater Middle East", energy geopolitics, and bashing China instead of leading from the front during a time of uncertainty like his predecessors have traditionally done during similar crises in the past. It's understandable that the U.S. doesn't want to abandon its global policies just because of this pandemic, but the optics of its Secretary of State lobbing accusations against the Iranian Ayatollah, getting hands-on in the Afghan political crisis, and bashing China make it look like he's distracted.

Not only that, but he might also be trying to distract the world from his country's shortcomings at home in failing to protect its citizens from this pandemic despite having had nearly a quarter-year's worth of time to prepare for it since China first publicized reports about this disease late last year. His obsession with blaming China for COVID-19 is beyond bizarre and is beginning to seem like more of a personal axe to grind than simple information warfare like many observers initially thought that it was.

During this unprecedented time of global crisis, Pompeo - like anybody in his position as his country's top diplomat - should remain focused on the pressing task at hand of containing COVID-19 and accordingly plan for the future by applying his diplomatic skills to assemble a worldwide coalition against this threat. Instead, he's too busy thinking about comparatively less important topics in the "Greater Middle East" and doing his utmost to bash China at every opportunity that he gets. As his boss's famous saying, "Sad!"

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