The pandemic is a global problem. We are all in the same boat. We sink or swim together. The more people that get vaccinated quickly the better off we will all be. All other considerations, like what country gets credit for leading vaccine production and dissemination in the developing world, are beside the point. Saving as many lives as possible is all that matters. All hands on deck. The lens of great power competition will not improve our vision on this issue. It only works to distort. Only a fool sees a clearly non-zero-sum problem as just another zero-sum competition. Scrap antiquated Cold War covid takes. They miss the point.
Given the way US conservatives have embraced Putin and Russia's brand in recent years, I move that the Biden administration obtain sufficient doses of Sputnik V to vaccinate vaccine-denying Trump supporters. It's a win-win: they get a vaccine endorsed by their hero's hero, and the rest of us may acquire protection from the covid variants they'll inevitably produce with their antisocial behavior.
The "west" does stumble with strategic diplomacy. My country, Canada, is in the middle of this stumble. Highly developed economy, accomplished labour force and wealth. Yet unable to gear up in a crisis. We are not even seriously considering building covid vaccine production capacity to assist in our own needs, let alone assisting with the needs of developing countries. As a country we have let ourselves come to accept platitudes, aspirational announcements of intent, political and bureaucratic mediocrity in the place action and leadership. I love Canada and Canadian people, but proud these days I am not.
The pandemic is a global problem. We are all in the same boat. We sink or swim together. The more people that get vaccinated quickly the better off we will all be. All other considerations, like what country gets credit for leading vaccine production and dissemination in the developing world, are beside the point. Saving as many lives as possible is all that matters. All hands on deck. The lens of great power competition will not improve our vision on this issue. It only works to distort. Only a fool sees a clearly non-zero-sum problem as just another zero-sum competition. Scrap antiquated Cold War covid takes. They miss the point.
Given the way US conservatives have embraced Putin and Russia's brand in recent years, I move that the Biden administration obtain sufficient doses of Sputnik V to vaccinate vaccine-denying Trump supporters. It's a win-win: they get a vaccine endorsed by their hero's hero, and the rest of us may acquire protection from the covid variants they'll inevitably produce with their antisocial behavior.
The "west" does stumble with strategic diplomacy. My country, Canada, is in the middle of this stumble. Highly developed economy, accomplished labour force and wealth. Yet unable to gear up in a crisis. We are not even seriously considering building covid vaccine production capacity to assist in our own needs, let alone assisting with the needs of developing countries. As a country we have let ourselves come to accept platitudes, aspirational announcements of intent, political and bureaucratic mediocrity in the place action and leadership. I love Canada and Canadian people, but proud these days I am not.