If there is one single lesson emerging from the terrible global Covid-19 pandemic it is that some challenges cannot be tackled alone. However strong the urge to slam our doors,
point fingers of blame, and focus our efforts on solving our own problems, the reality is that we face a global trauma that requires global cooperation and a coordinated international response.
It seems our scientists have got that message. It is awesome to see the extent of global scientific cooperation to examine and understand the virus that has engulfed us, how it has spread, and how to work together on potential vaccines or
antibody tests that might help us discover whether we are safe.
So far, that high level of cooperation has been notably absent among political leaders, and if we are quickly to bring Covid-19 under control and prevent thousands of unnecessary deaths, that has to change – fast.
Leaders can feel angry and frustrated that China’s political leaders slowed the release of information that would have allowed early interventions to prevent the escape of the virus
out of China. They can also be dismayed by the procrastination of the World Health Organisation over
guidance that might have curbed its spread.
But the reality is none of this will help us bring the pandemic under control. And it is a myopic and arrogant politician that casts the first stone. When the dust settles and a comprehensive audit is undertaken of what happened, what went wrong where, and what things could have been done better, many across the world are going to emerge with egg on their faces. As Chad Bown at the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics insisted last week, “because nearly everyone is to blame … it is a waste of time for the G20 to point fingers”.
It may be true that the WHO needs to be reformed. It is undoubtedly also true that many countries with well-endowed health care systems have found themselves unforgivably unprepared – lacking systems to track and contain the virus, without enough hospital beds for the sick, lacking protective equipment to keep carers safe. But to obsess about this now and hunt for scapegoats, when lives need urgently to be saved, is only to make matters worse.
“If the international community doesn’t act now, the results could be catastrophic,” noted Mohamed A. El-Erian last week in a Project Syndicate analysis. He added: “Only with a concerted, cooperative, and holistic approach can the international community avoid a large-scale humanitarian tragedy – and protect the rest of the world from destabilising blowback.”
Arancha Gonzalez, Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, concurred, in the wake of
tragic losses at home: “National responses are vital, but in the medium term, multilateralism will be our best weapon in this fight – and our best defence against future global threats.”
After three years in which the Trump administration has championed “America First” unilateralism, undermined support worldwide for large numbers of multilateral institutions, encouraged
“decoupling” and insinuated that “multilateralism” is a dirty word, there can be no more important moment to push back firmly. There are many circumstances worldwide where international cooperation is not only the best way of optimising gains for everyone – it is often the only way.
If there are shortcomings in our multilateral institutions – whether it is the World Health Organisation, the World Trade Organisation with its flawed
dispute settlement process, or even the International Monetary Fund – the solution is to reform them, not to
withdraw funds and threaten dissolution.
In the face of global shortages of medical supplies, it is the time not to slam controls on exports or encourage beggar-thy-neighbour
competition for limited supplies, but to open markets, cut
tariffs, eliminate barriers to urgent delivery, and begin making plans for appropriate levels of future stocks worldwide.
So too for ambitious multilateral projects like the European Union: there can be no better way to undermine the very foundations of the EU than for Germany, France and the
Czech Republic to impose limits on the sale of masks, protective clothing and ventilators when thousands are dying in Spain and Italy, or to refuse to share the financial burden of the pandemic.
Speaking to the Financial Times last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said that both the union and the single currency will be threatened if the richer members, such as Germany and the Netherlands, do not show more solidarity with the pandemic-stricken nations of southern Europe. “We are at a moment of truth, which is to decide whether the European Union is a political project or just a market project.”
Intensive multilateral cooperation is not just necessary for the pandemic. There are many other inherently global problems to which no equitable solutions can be found by countries working on their own. The
global warming crisis may be the most obvious example, but it is not the only one. Food and
energy security can only be ensured by multilateral cooperation. The 2008 global financial crash needed close international cooperation.
In short, now is the time to encourage international cooperation, not abandon it. Now is the time to be guided by good science, not by political leaders obsessed with
fast-approaching elections. If the WHO alone cannot provide the impetus needed, so groupings like the Group of 20 and the Group of Seven should be galvanised to ensure a coordinated approach not just towards the medical emergency, but the economic one too.
In Asia, multilateral institutions like Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) can contribute to multilateral coordination, in particular under the Apec chairmanship this year of Malaysia, which spans both organisations.
Such multilateral coordination will be critically important as the poor nations of
Africa and Asia begin to fall victim to the pandemic, with literally millions of lives at stake. Early efforts being coordinated by the G20 and the IMF to provide
debt relief makes great sense in regions that lack strong health care infrastructure and easy access to the equipment needed to protect lives.
Despite the retreat to protectionism and regressive nationalism over the past three years, in particular by the Trump administration in the US, the time has come for a forceful reaffirmation of the importance of multilaterally coordinated cooperation. This is urgent and critical for the pandemic crisis, but also millions of livelihoods worldwide.
David Dodwell researches and writes about global, regional and Hong Kong challenges from a Hong Kong point of view
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Multilateralism the key
