In my lifetime, I’ve been accustomed to the United States government’s leadership in a time of global crisis. The whole of humanity is today threatened by the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, yet where is our leadership to inspire, innovate, organize and help finance a coordinated global response, as the U.S. did in the 2014 Ebola epidemic?

The Chinese are eager to persuade the world that authoritarianism wins over democracy in handling this crisis. We need to prove them wrong.

Virus deadliness: Viruses are constantly arising out of genetic mutations. When they start expanding exponentially, initially no immunity, vaccinations nor drugs exist to stop them. What makes today’s coronavirus fast spreading since last December is that it has an incubation period that may not show symptoms, or only mild ones suggesting a cold or flu. This creates a lag in the appearance of an outbreak. It hides the true extent of infection. This is why testing is essential.

Past pandemics: There is good news. Philosopher and historian Yuval Noah Harari points out that global solidarity and shared reliable scientific information have thwarted innumerable past pandemics. Think of the progress made in addressing Spanish flu, smallpox, measles and many other communicable diseases prevalent into the 20th century and then AIDS, Ebola and polio in more recent years. Global solidarity and shared scientific data are what we need today.

Flattening the curve: Two small Asian countries, Taiwan and Singapore, have acted the quickest to contain COVID-19. Their secret is that they learned from the 2003 SARS epidemic and had emergency plans and materials in place. They did testing and strong contact tracing immediately. Two other Asian countries were caught off guard — China and South Korea — but have rallied to stem the initial outbreaks on their soil.

China: It has airbrushed away its initial failures to heed the outbreak, even punishing the whistleblowers. It did a blitz of hospital building, testing, mass quarantines, drastic population and media control and a shutdown of most daily life to bring the virus under control. Then it galvanized its state-owned companies to make needed medical equipment, now extra to its needs. So China is loudly trumpeting its authoritarian model in a stream of propaganda and proffering assistance abroad.

South Korea: This democracy has successfully used swift action, widespread testing and contact tracing to flatten the curve of new infections. It quickly established 600 testing centers and 50 drive-thru stations. Test results were back within hours. Panic was low and there was scant hoarding.

Europe and America: Alas, our democracies in Europe and America have been hampered in flattening the curve by factors, such as denial, political polarization, late starts in testing, suspicion of experts, false social media information and hugely unprepared medical facilities. The development of immunity and properly tested vaccinations and drug treatment are in progress but take more time than an understandably scared public wishes.

Cooperation: Pandemics are so threatening to the whole world that one would expect prompt international action. Normally, the U.S. leads the way. Last week there were teleconferences in which we participated, one of the G-7 and one of the G-20. The former was initiated by the French, the latter by the Saudi Arabians. Neither produced an international plan. There has been no U.S. push for Security Council action, nor strong endorsement of the U.N. Secretary General’s calls for cease fires in war zones and urgent help to vulnerable poor countries.

Sour diplomacy: The principle U.S. response to date has been the blame game.

This is not a time for overheated rhetoric toward China, Iran and others. “When humans squabble, viruses double”, as Harari says. With some imagination, this might even be an opportunity for diplomatic initiatives to lesson enmity and promote humanitarian policies. In any case, an international effort is required to prevent the coronavirus lodging in pockets around the world and spurring new waves of infection. And trade still counts as evident by planeloads of Chinese medical equipment landing this week in New York.

Suez Moment? For over a century, we have enjoyed world confidence in our extraordinary power and leadership. Challenges have mounted in the 21st century in economic and military competition, as well as from resurgent nationalism, isolationism and authoritarianism. Autocrats are taking advantage of the pandemic to take more power, as just happened in Hungary and the Philippines.

Sadly, we have tended in recent years to let our own institutions, infrastructure, research, emergency preparations, social trust — and world leadership role — erode. Analysts are wondering if indeed this latest failure of leadership means the U.S. has reached its “Suez Moment,” the 1956 crisis that spelled the end of Britain’s role as a global player. It is heartbreaking to even be contemplating a Suez Moment.

What to do? It’s time for the U.S. to offer its time honored vision, outreach and assistance on the world stage, not just for tackling the pandemic but the aftermath of restoring social and economic foundations — and saving democracy.

We are good at rising to the occasion with our multiple capabilities. It would be wonderful if, for example, we developed the first vaccination and made it available everywhere. It would be equally wonderful if we restored our diplomatic corps and got back to work on the international front.

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