The most important take away from President Biden’s foreign travels last week was the realization that he has successfully brought the United States back to a place in the international community not seen since the days of President Clinton. What is remarkable as well is that in two and a half years Biden has returned credibility to the authority of the United States and the office of the President. To be clear President Biden has made mistakes and not fully succeeded in changing around the entire global image of the U.S. There remain serious disconnects with China but, overall, America’s image in the world has improved dramatically.
President George W. Bush had problems with America’s allies largely as a consequence of his conduct of the wars in Iran and Afghanistan; the deceptions and prolonged fighting which frustrated many friends with his weak leadership. President Obama was very well liked personally and brought a very positive lift to U.S. relations with its allies. He failed, however, to engage with them actively enough throughout his two terms. The atmospherics were positive, but the policies were inconsistent and ineffective.
America’s allies were terribly disheartened and perplexed at President Trump’s arrogance and disregard for global alliances as well as in his conduct in their bi-lateral relationships. America’s allies appeared in many instances to be given short shrift by President Trump. His cuddly relationships with authoritarian rulers including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, and North Korea’s Kim-Jong-Un only insulted them further. Many in the western alliance genuinely feared that had Trump been re-elected in 2020, America might totally have abandoned its historical allies. They saw America’s economic interests and Trump’s own personal financial goals overriding the U.S.’s historical ties and multi-lateral security arrangements.
With the election of Joe Biden in 2020, America’s allies in the West saw a hope to return to a U.S. policy which had prevailed throughout the cold war. To a large extent this is precisely what President Biden has accomplished and which was manifested in the genuinely warm picture that emerged in Vilnius.
The images and public statements emerging from the NATO summit alone indicate how successful President Biden has been. Sweden is now entering NATO. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been placated—perhaps even too much--with the Administration now agreeing to lift its opposition and to work with Congress to give Turkey new F-16 planes as well as to upgrade older ones. (Biden traded support for Sweden’s entry into NATO with the elimination of Turkey’s objections with the sweetener of the F-16’s.)
The outreach to Italy’s new right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also was observed as she succeeded in being photographed in the front row for almost every photo or press session in Lithuania. The Prime Minister now is scheduled to be received in the White House at the end of the month. Whatever had been the expectation, Meloni turned the summit into a success for herself, Italy, and its relationship with the U.S.
Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky arrived in Vilnius angry that NATO was not moving ahead with his request to grant Ukraine entry into the alliance. Despite having just received approval from the U.S. that it is willing to transfer cluster bomb technology to Ukraine, Zelensky appeared miffed. After his meeting with President Biden as well as the U.S. statement of eventual support for Ukrainian membership, Zelensky changed his entire demeanor to one of all smiles.
If the U.S. Congress was less determined to make political gamesmanship out of every foreign policy move—as they regularly do over all domestic issues--constructive bipartisanship genuinely could prevail in international affairs. Given the persistent obstructionist behavior of Congressional Republicans and former President Trump’s persistent, nasty, ad hominem attacks on President Biden, the place of the U.S. in the world might be even stronger.
Any possibility that this policy might be resurrected will be contingent largely on Republican leaders in Congress and on their campaign trail by a rejection of the Trumpian course to America’s role in the world. There is a need to convince many in their ranks that “America First” has failed before and will do so again.
The supporters of Donald Trump and Republicans, convinced that only he can win in 2024, need to consider the global implications of a Trump re-election. This is true with respect to human rights, global climate conditions, as well as U.S. national security. As Joe Biden’s visit to Europe demonstrated it did not need to be this way and woe to the U.S. if it resumes the direction in which Trump previously had been headed.
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