President Trump’s announcement that he would terminate U.S. membership in the World Health Organization is but the latest in a long list of decisions he has made to walk away from international institutions and agreements.
The COVID-19 pandemic is exposing the quality of governance and competence of the world’s leaders. When politicians and civil servants fail to deliver, they quickly lose credibility and legitimacy.
The language of war can be used to bring a nation together in common cause—but when it comes to dealing with a pandemic, all these efforts are necessary.
There is little doubt that the WHO was slow in responding to the danger represented by the emergence of a potentially new virus in China and that it was too willing to accept Beijing’s statements of what was happening. It should have known better.