During the 1990s, the United States deemed itself as an indispensable nation. Sidney Blumenthal and James Chace created this designation, which has been promoted by administrations from Secretary Madeline Albright through President Obama. While Secretary Albright’s use of the term could be considered the height of imperialistic arrogance, it has nonetheless undergirded the American rationale for action in the international arena.
As the United States looks over the international landscape, some countries may not be looking at America as an indispensable nation, but as a country that has lost its way over the last several years. Some may suggest that it is a hindrance. From the ill-fated Iraq war to North Korea, others like the New York Center for Foreign Policy have even referred to US foreign policy as impotent. An example might be Russia’s negotiated ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, where the United States was virtually absent despite America having over one million Armenian citizens.
When Joe Biden takes the oath of office on January 20th, 2021, he will inherit many problems from Covid-19, racial strife, economic turmoil to trying to work with a morally corrupt GOP Senate.
One of the significant challenges he will have to deal with, which received little coverage during the presidential campaign, is the restoring of America’s foreign policy’s prestige, which has been damaged over the last four years. There is a consensus that President Trump, because of his ignorance, narcissism, and propensity to destroy whatever he touches, has seriously eroded the United States’ reputation. Many pundits and foreign affairs veterans agree that the American image is damaged. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, United States leadership has been absent in saving lives while focused on assigning blame. China has prevented the United Nations security council from taking it up, saying that it is not within the Security Council’s purview to discuss Covid-19.
Whether people in general or historians specifically will ever know the real reason for the affinity that Donald Trump has for people like Vladimir Putin, Kim Jung Un, or Erdogan may never be known. Nevertheless, the damage has been done, and President-elect Biden is faced with formulating a strategy to reposition the United States as the indispensable nation.
Credit should be given to the Trump administration for the UAE/Israeli deal (20 years in the making) and continuing the Obama policy to fight ISIS. However, this should not hide the fact that Biden will have to engage in damage control.
The raw relations that exist with some of America’s allies stemming from tariffs, being treated as enemies while enemies are treated as allies, Trump’s hesitation on supporting NATO, will create a daunting though not impossible challenge for the incoming administration.
The good news is that President-elect Biden has a great deal of geopolitical experience and a network of relationships that may facilitate his challenge. Biden is an internationalist and a supporter of multilateralism, with a long-term view of geopolitical relationships.
Most nations will undoubtedly welcome him as a return to normalcy. While he has not yet made any overtures to restarting discussions on TPP, he will be rejoining the Paris Accords, Iran Deal, and the World Health Organization. Certainly, ascertaining the paradigm that Biden will organize his foreign policy around is essential. Will it be a Eurocentric paradigm or a continuing shift to Asia started by President Obama.
As liberal democracies decline worldwide, Biden will also have to deal with an even more skeptical world, which has just witnessed the fragility of American free elections. One of the aspects of a successful diplomatic policy is how a nation models what it preaches. After Trump’s debacle, attempt to steal the election, fake lawsuits, refusing to concede, plots to kidnap American governors, increased activity of white supremacist groups, it may be complicated for the United States to talk about election integrity and superiority of the Democratic system to any other nation.
As the United States looks over the international landscape, nations are looking right back at America and have expressed concern about its direction. They have seen police abuse, voter suppression efforts, lack of leadership during a pandemic, attempts to overturn an election, and what appears to be idol worship of Donald Trump.
In the wake of the killing of George Floyd and other unarmed black males, 20 African UN officials asked the United Nations to begin an inquiry into African-Americans’ treatment by US police departments. One of those leaders, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, joined the effort through a joint statement “As senior African leaders in the United Nations, the last few weeks of protests at the killing of George Floyd in the hands of police, have left us all outraged at the injustice of racism that continued to be pervasive in our host country [the United States] and across the world,” One can think about whether Trump’s desire to pull out of the WHO was not solely based on COVID-19 but also on the willingness of its director to co-sign this request for an inquiry.
While the United States was able to get allies such as Mexico, Great Britain, and France to water down the inquiry to not single out the United States, nonetheless, because of the support within the African American community, this is something that President Biden may not be able to avoid.
Australia Foreign Minister Marise Payne also called upon their Washington-based embassy to investigate US law enforcement abuse against Australian news crews.
While these calls for inquiries or investigations will not go far, nonetheless, it raises the question of how America is being viewed around the world.
Russia will be a focus for the Biden administration. Despite what some might deem as Trump’s strange fondness for Vladimir Putin, Biden’s relationship might be cordial but an uneasy one. In 2011, Biden allegedly told Vladimir Putin, “Mr. Prime Minister, I’m looking into your eyes, and I don’t think you have a soul” This remark was an obvious allusion to the comments President George W. Bush made about his meeting with Putin. Biden’s initial agenda item will be to engage Russia in extending the START treaty.
China presents another challenge for the incoming administration. The recent Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which 15 Asia-Pacific countries signed on Sunday, leaves the United States on the sideline. The reality is that China is becoming more powerful and has expanded its sphere of influence through its belt and road initiative, which, according to Bloomberg News, has accounted for 575 billion dollars of infrastructure projects around the world. China is also creating new alliances with Russia, including the recently held war games. Biden, however, may benefit from some perceived missteps of China. The mishandling of Hong Kong, it’s skirmishes along the border with India, as well as its initial non-transparency about Covid-19 has raised questions about China’s ability to be a leader in an increasingly global society.,
The issue of nuclear weapons will be on Biden’s agenda as well. Despite the “love letters” between Trump and Kim Jong-un, the North Korean nuclear inventory has increased. According to the UN nuclear agency, since Trump pulled out of the Iran deal, it has increased its enriched uranium to be able to build two nuclear bombs.
In the African states, Biden will have to decide if he will continue Obama’s “trade not aid” policy or his Power Initiative, which was terminated by Trump.
Biden should also engage NATO to expand its membership to include former satellites of the Soviet Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Another rarely discussed issue for his foreign affairs policy is how Biden will staff the State Department to reflect America’s diversity at its Washington DC headquarters and embassy’s and consulates around the world. It is not enough to have indigenous people staff international offices, but they must be staffed according to the diversity seen in the United States. Biden needs to initiate an intentional effort to recruit persons from communities of color to represent the United States through its State Department. The consistent critique of American national security is that it has been too Yale, White, and Male. Biden has a chance to address that issue.
As Biden looks to rebuild relations worldwide, an important point to remember is that democracy is not as cherished around the world nor within the United States itself as it used to be. A Vanderbilt University survey conducted in 2017 showed that 1 in 4 adults believe “It would be reasonable for the military to overthrow our government via a coup d’etat under the circumstances marked by social disorder or political dysfunction.” As nations antagonistic to America continue to use social media to create chaos, this trend may persist even more. This also raises the issue of cybersecurity, which will become an ever increasing threat not only from outside nations but from people who already reside in the United States.
One of the President-elect’s traits, as told by author Evan Osnos, is his curiosity. Joe Biden is very keen on learning about what he doesn’t know. This positive trait will enable him to be well informed about the issues he must decide on.
Foreign affairs policy should be an extension of the nation’s values and self-interest. Too often, however, the importance of foreign policy is misunderstood and under-appreciated by the American public. Nonetheless, it’s implications, whether Covid-19, nuclear proliferation, cyberattacks, trade agreements, will have tremendous effects on Americans’ lives.