Ana Palacio fears the West would not learn from the current global health crisis and emerge stronger. Although it is important to “limit the COVID-19 outbreak’s short-term fallout,” Western leaders also need to look forward and “strengthen liberal-democratic systems from within.” Any failure would only “leave the West vulnerable to a China that, accurately or not, is presenting its model as the best solution to the challenges of these interesting times.”

The author says COVID-19 has laid bare the West's vulnerability, when it is “seemingly at the mercy" of the United States and China. The two bitter rivals "appear more concerned with upholding their great-power competition than resolving the COVID-19 crisis.” The US-China rivalry is taking a toll on the rest of the world. Their “competition for global primacy, which has been escalating for years, is also a clash of models.”

China has apparently contained the spread of the virus thanks to its system emphasizing “the social harmony that lies at the heart of Confucianism. The American – and, indeed, the Western – system emphasizes the primacy of the individual, in the tradition of the Enlightenment.” As infections outside China began to rise, the message from Beijing was that the West have been too slow to react and not done enough to contain the pandemic. Chinese leaders urged the West to learn from their draconian measures as Europe became the epicentre of the health crisis.

As the US surpasses China with the highest number of infections, the author says this crisis has been characterised “by the tension” among Americans who see their rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” upheld in the Declaration of Independence as sacrosanct. “The pandemic threatens life, but the response needed to protect life would undermine liberty; the pursuit of happiness will take a hit either way. No crisis in recent memory has posed such an all-encompassing challenge to the pillars of Western liberalism.”

The author points out that “Western democracies have also curtailed liberty during previous crises. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the US Patriot Act drastically expanded law enforcement’s surveillance and investigative powers. More recent terrorist violence in Europe has led to similar developments.”

The irony is that there are Americans and Europeans - viewers and readers of right-wing media, who are science deniers - trivialising the threat posed COVID-19, and defying measures to limit social gatherings and impose quarantines and lockdowns. They call the pandemic a “hoax”. Yet they take terrorist attacks carried by Islamists far more seriously, demonising Muslims. Indeed, they do not see the coronavirus itself as a danger, but people – especially immigrants. Their immediate response are travel bans and border controls.

The author says, apart from “threats to life and limits on liberty, the coming economic crisis will deepen doubts about Western liberalism and weaken its position in the global contest of ideas that is currently underway. It is thus imperative that Western leaders not only limit the spread of COVID-19, but also foster social cohesion, devise a credible path back toward growth and normalcy, and reinvigorate the values and institutions that underpin liberal democratic societies.”

If they fail, we all face a serious risk of succumbing to the new wave of anti-globalisation and protectionism that are on the rise. Elements in the US are already pushing hard with rhetoric geared towards the economic decoupling of the US from China. Trump has been referring to the virus as the “Chinese virus”. We, in Europe, need to stay out of Trump’s war with China, and hope for his removal in the November elections. A new leader would opt for a less confrontational approach in foreign policy.

Meanwhile, the author urges us “to revive the ethos that citizenship entails both duties and rights. The scenes of heroism by medical professionals, service workers, and community members that the pandemic has produced should help to advance this objective.”

The problem is that European leaders do not seem to learn from history, although our history is littered with crises. Instead of taking on problems, they prefer to muddle through. It is interesting to see whether Chinese leaders will avoid a repeat of any contagious disease outbreak that could further undermine its economy and system of government. If they do, the world will be spared from another deadly pandemic.