American Leadership and a Global Offensive Against COVID.

• Author: Blaney, John

American Diplomacy

November 1, 2021

www.americandiplomacy.org

Title: American Leadership and a Global Offensive Against COVID

Author:by John Blaney and Christopher Datta

Text:

While the U.S. has made major advances against COVID, it is imperative that much more be done as quickly as possible to end a disease that threatens our health, our economy and our leadership in the world. We need to go on the offense world-wide and become the world's arsenal for vaccines. Without such an offensive, it is only a matter of time before the virus mutates into a form that is resistant to our current vaccines. As we have seen repeatedly, no matter where it starts, a new variant always finds its way into communities everywhere. Only the United States is uniquely positioned to lead the world out of this crisis.

The first step in developing a strategy to successfully address an emergency as complex as COVID is to properly frame the issue. America's "Greatest Generation," led by visionaries like George C. Marshall, knew how to create holistic strategies to overcome global threats. Not only did they defeat the Axis, simultaneously they planned the recovery from World War II and created a new world order. American leadership changed the world. There is much we can still learn from them.

Granted, COVID's threat is very different from that of the Axis, but may not be any less dangerous. In fact, our death toll from COVID will exceed America's greatest wartime losses suffered in our Civil War. President Biden correctly calls COVID "a war." So, where's the all-out strategy to win this 21st century war? Where is an Operation Overlord, or something similar with that same vision and scope, something that matches how we doggedly tracked down the last smallpox cases in the world, thereby ending completely that terrible disease?

In hospitals around the world the medical profession has fought heroically in the trenches against COVID, while researchers have provided invaluable insights and tools such as masking, social distancing, hygiene guidance, treatments and so forth. But, this is mostly defense. We need a sweeping offense to get out of this disaster, or risk a profound setback if COVID mutates anywhere into something resistant to the vaccines that have been so brilliantly developed in record time.

Tick-tock. If we don't go all-out after this disease worldwide, assuring America's safety is impossible. The only way to do that is to wipe COVID out, as we did with...