WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden He strode into the White House four years ago with a foreign policy of repairing alliances strained by four years of Republican administration. donald trump’s An “America first” worldview is at the forefront.
The one-term Democratic Party took office under the worst circumstances. global pandemic His plans were soon put to the stress test by a series of complex international crises. chaotic US withdrawal From Afghanistan, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022and Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel in 2023 that triggered it. The war continues in the Middle East.
As Biden prepares to leave office, he claims his first term as president has made strides in restoring America’s credibility on the world stage and proving that the United States remains an indispensable partner around the world. continues to do so. That message will be at the heart of a speech he delivers Monday afternoon. Foreign policy legacies.
But Mr. Biden’s foreign policy achievements will be overshadowed and shaped, at least in the short term, by the troubling counterfactual that American voters are shifting responsibility for the country back to Mr. Trump and his protectionist worldview. It will probably happen.
“The real question is: Does the rest of the world have the national wealth, the economy, the innovation infrastructure, the ability to attract investment, the ability to attract talent that the rest of the world has today?” said Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser. He spoke in an interview with the Associated Press. “When we took office, a lot of people probably said China. … Nobody says that anymore.”
After four tumultuous years around the world, the Democratic administration claims Biden has provided a steady hand to the world and left the United States and its allies on a stronger footing.
But from the beginning of his presidency, Biden has often spoken of his desire to prove that “America is back” but has been tested by war, disaster and miscalculation.
Chaotic US exit from Afghanistan was an early setback for Biden
As the United States completes its withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Biden has fulfilled his campaign promise to withdraw. America’s longest war.
However, the 20-year conflict ended in an ominous manner. Collapse of US-backed Afghan government, gruesome bombing Thousands of desperate Afghans descended on Kabul’s airport in search of a way out before the last American plane departed over the Hindu Kush mountains, killing 13 American soldiers and 170 others. .
The Afghanistan fiasco was a major setback just eight months into Biden’s presidency, from which he has struggled to recover.
Biden’s Republican critics, including Trump, see this as a moment that foreshadows the failure of his presidency.
“I’ll tell you what happened, he treated Afghanistan very badly. It was a very terrible embarrassment and the most embarrassing moment in our nation’s history,” Trump said in a speech. said. The only 2024 presidential debate with Bidenjust weeks before Democrats announced that he was Ending his re-election campaign.
Biden’s success in Ukraine may depend on Trump’s approach going forward
In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Biden rallied allies in Europe and abroad to provide billions of dollars in military and economic aid to Ukraine. Over $100 billion Even just from America. This allowed Kiev to continue its fight with the Russian president President Vladimir Putin A much larger and better equipped army. Biden’s team also coordinated with allies to attack Russia with a steady offensive. sanctions The goal was to isolate the Kremlin and force Russia to pay an economic price for its war effort.
But Biden faced criticism during the war that he was too cautious about providing Ukrainians with certain advanced lethal weapons in a timely manner and placing limits on how they could be used, and initially resisted the Ukrainian president. was. Mr. Volodymyr Zelensky request for dismissal long range ATACMS In addition to launching missiles deep into Russian territory, abrams tank, F-16 fighter jet and other systems.
Biden needs to draw the line against escalation amid concerns it could draw the United States and other NATO members into direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia. I hesitated many times until I finally gave in.
President Trump criticized the war’s cost to U.S. taxpayers and vowed to bring the conflict to a quick end.
Biden said Friday he was hopeful the U.S. would continue supporting Ukraine after he leaves office.
“I know there are quite a few Democrats and Republicans who think we should continue to support Ukraine.” Mr. Biden said:. “My hope and expectation is that they will speak up if President Trump decides to cut off funding to Ukraine.”
Daniel Fried, a former U.S. ambassador to Poland and an adviser to Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, said Mr. Biden’s legacy in Ukraine will be largely shaped by Mr. Trump.
He added that Trump may succeed in bringing about a “decent ending” to the Ukraine war that many Americans would accept.
“It’s not necessarily going to happen, but it could happen,” Freed said. “And if you do that, the criticism of Biden is that he acted to help Ukraine, but he hesitated, hesitated, did a lot of hand-wringing, and that it took Trump to actually bring about a fair settlement.” It will be.”
Sullivan argues that Trump, a billionaire real estate developer, should consider aid to Ukraine from a dealmaker’s perspective.
“Donald Trump has built his identity around deals, and the way to make good deals is to use leverage,” Sullivan said. “Our case for the next team is to build influence, demonstrate staying power, and support Ukraine, both publicly and privately. There is quite a bit ahead on the road.”
Biden’s Middle East diplomacy overshadowed by devastation in Gaza Strip
In the Middle East, Biden has supported Israel in its effort to eradicate Hamas from the Gaza Strip. That war sparked a new war in Lebanon, with Israel hurting Iran’s strongest ally. Hezbollah, Even if Israel rises successful airstrike This was the first time it had been made public in Iran.
Hezbollah’s deterioration also played a role last month when Islamist-led rebels organized an insurgency. Oust long-time Syrian leader Bashar al-Assada brutal fixture of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance.”
The situation comes at a time when Biden’s relationship with Israel’s conservative leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been strained by the massive Palestinian death toll in the fighting. More than 46,000 deaths The Israeli blockade has left much of Gaza in a hellish state, with access to food and basic medical care severely limited.
Pro-Palestinian activists have called for an arms embargo on Israel, but US policy has remained largely unchanged. The State Department notified Congress of the plan in recent days. $8 billion in arms sales to Israel.
Aaron David Miller, a former State Department Middle East negotiator, said this approach pushed Iran into a corner, but Biden would pay a reputational price for the devastation in the Gaza Strip.
“The administration was either unable or unwilling to create some kind of restraint that the average person would consider significant pressure,” Miller said. “It was beyond Joe Biden’s emotional and political capacity to impose the kind of sustained or significant pressure that could lead to a change in Israeli tactics.”
Some 98 hostages remain in Gaza, more than 15 months after the Hamas-led offensive that sparked the war. More than a third of them are estimated dead by Israeli authorities.
Biden’s Middle East adviser Brett McGuirk is traveling to the region to try to secure the elusive hostages and reach a cease-fire agreement as the remainder of his presidential term looms. Trump warned: ‘All hell’ will be unleashed on Hamas If the hostages are not released by the inauguration.
Sullivan declined to comment on President Trump’s threats against Hamas, but said both sides agree on what matters most: a deal.
“The previous administration and the next administration are working together because it is in the national interest of the United States to carry out a hostage trade at the earliest possible opportunity,” he said. “It would be good to have a unified message on that and we have been coordinating closely with the incoming team to this effect.”
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