The COVID-19 pandemic is an enormous test of leadership for all governments and institutions on Earth. Leaders are supposed to come together to tackle this challenge. But some are spending too much time on accusing or blaming others. U.S. President Donald Trump has announced the suspension of funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), claiming that the WHO has not done enough to cope with COVID-19. Will the WHO be weakened by Trump's move? Prof. Joseph Nye, former dean of the Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, shared his insights with CGTN Host Tian Wei.
"Trump's blaming on the WHO is just trying to shift blame away from himself. I think it doesn't help the WHO or weakens the WHO," he observed. "I think President Trump has made a bad mistake in terms of putting too much blame on the WHO. In fact, the WHO represents the will of the member governments, and the member governments haven't given it enough authority to do what it needs to do," he added.
According to Prof. Nye, the WHO does have the authority to declare national emergencies, but it should have much more authority, nor resources to basically lay out the details of plans that countries can adopt. The WHO has been effective in enhancing the cooperation capacities scientist to scientist, doctor to doctor. And the WHO has played an important role in increasing the capacity in poor countries to help them build their public health infrastructure.
Prof. Joseph Nye is also known for coining the term "soft power"; In an era full of challenges, what's the role and essence of "soft power"?
"Soft power is the ability that you get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payment. If you have a moral stance as a country, it makes you more attractive to other countries. And that increases your soft power as a country," he expounded. "And I think for many U.S. Presidents, they did try to apply moral approaches to foreign policy. That was good for the United States. Unfortunately, President Trump is the least moral of the 14 presidents that I have studied throughout history. I think the presidency of Trump has led to a reduction in American soft power."
Some say that American elite groups have somewhat failed to influence some of the most crucial policies, whether it's domestic, as reflected in this time by the strategies against the pandemic within the country, and also about its foreign policy. For example, its relations with China. And China and the U.S. are the two largest national economies in the world, and their cooperation toward transnational issues will serve as a good example of global cooperation. What's the next step for China-U.S. cooperation?
According to Prof. Nye, when we face something like climate change, or the current pandemic, there's no way that one country can solve the problem by itself. It's just impossible to do it alone. The virus doesn't know borders and it doesn't care about nationalities. Neither does climate change, where carbon dioxide doesn't recognize national borders. So in that sense, if China does better in improving its public health or reducing its carbon emissions, that's good for China and that's also good for the U.S. If U.S. improves those things, that's good for U.S. and that's also good for China.
"I think the important thing is China and the U.S. should be looking for some common projects. We could do it together to symbolize the fact that we have more to gain from cooperation than from the rivalry," he highlighted. "There still are a number of Americans, the elites, as you refer to in the press and the foreign policy community and in the universities who are interested in trying to preserve a working relationship with China," he added.
World Insight with Tian Wei is an international debate/in-depth interview program facilitated by host Tian Wei. People in the know, be they global leaders or emerging change-makers, all provide their insights on this unique global platform.
Schedule: Monday-Saturday
Time (GMT): 1415, 2015
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