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Every hour across the country, an invisible army is claiming the lives of our fellow citizens – all taken far too soon and at a pace close to another 9/11 every 36 hours. As a nation, we are relearning the hard lesson that 21st-century threats are often immune to borders and bullets.

While there are some who suggest that this dangerous pathogen should renew calls to build “Fortress America” and retreat from the world, such a withdrawal would make us far less secure. After more than seven collective decades of service in uniform, we have seen time and again that when America retreats, the threats worsen and always find their way to our shores.

Whether combating ISIS, Ebola or COVID-19, the winning American strategy is the same: U.S. leadership to build global coalitions, targeted investments in foreign assistance, and sustained diplomatic and political will to see the fight through.

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Our survival in an interconnected world now rests on whether we make the investments and rally the world to stop COVID-19. Even if we flatten the curve here at home in the short term, our failure to stop the spread among some of the most vulnerable in our world – often in densely packed housing and refugee camps without clean water – will lead to a new global surge that will land right back at our doorstep.

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This is a fight where our civilian and public health professionals must lead the way to keep Americans safe. Working on the front lines around the world, the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have the experience, platforms and relationships to stop this pandemic, which not only threatens our homeland but all our military personnel stationed around the world.

As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said recently, “Through decades of U.S. global leadership in health and humanitarian assistance, we know that smart and strategic investments have proven critical to protecting the homeland. As history proves, we can fight pandemics at home and help other nations contain their spread abroad.”

We worry that if we don’t match our resources to the global scale of this challenge that the sacrifices of all Americans in these difficult times will be in vain.

The good news, as the secretary stated, is that America has fought challenges like this before. President Trump recently highlighted how U.S. assistance is delivering results in the fight against HIV/AIDS and malaria in Africa. He told the White House press corps, “We have to keep doing that, that's humanity you're talking about” adding that on COVID-19, the U.S. will likely end up “economically doing something for other countries.”

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The president’s suggestion is exactly right – and doing so is directly in our own nation’s health and economic interests.

We worry that if we don’t match our resources to the global scale of this challenge that the sacrifices of all Americans in these difficult times will be in vain. As the administration and Congress consider additional emergency funding to protect Americans’ lives and well-being, the imperative has never been greater to meet this challenge with the full arsenal of America’s global health, humanitarian and economic toolkit. The simple truth is we can pay now or we will pay later.

When COVID-19 can travel from a remote village anywhere in the world to the U.S. in just 36 hours, this is one campaign that we cannot and must not try to do on the cheap. Instead, we will only be successful in confronting this threat by fully investing in strengthening the weak health systems, disease surveillance and prevention strategies necessary to blunt and ultimately stop the coming surge in some of the poorest places in the world – and address the humanitarian and economic consequences of the pandemic.

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As we watch China try to exploit a crisis they couldn’t contain to their own gain, we know that if America doesn’t lead, others will try to step into the void that we have left.

We salute the sacrifices and risks taken by our first responders, medical personnel, Reservists and National Guard fighting this disease at home. Let us commit ourselves to conquer this threat and rally the will and the world to stop it wherever it emerges.

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Adm. James Stavridis, USN (Ret.) is former NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Europe. He and Gen. Zinni chair the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s National Security Advisory Council, which brings together more than 200 retired three- and four-star generals and admirals who support strategic investments in development and diplomacy alongside defense.