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“We will repair our alliances and re-engage the world,” Joe Biden said in his speech on Capitol Hill on the first day of his term. It is an idea repeated almost like a mantra by the American president in the turbulent months that have elapsed from the announcement of his electoral victory to the inauguration. Whether heavily emphasized or in subtext, Biden’s intent has always been clear: to lead America in a radically different way than that followed by Donald Trump.
Yet even if in domestic politics the breakdown of the past seems unquestionable, when it comes to foreign policy, recent hearings in the US Senate, as well as several cues from key people in his administration, tell a much more complex story. At least in the near future, on a significant number of key US foreign policy issues, from Venezuela to Ukraine to Israel, Biden will be following Trump closely.
After the Trump administration
Many of the Biden administration’s foreign policy intentions, at least for the foreseeable future, were discussed at the Senate hearing of Antony Blinken, the new US Secretary of State.
On the subject of the latent crisis in Venezuela, Blinken left no room for misunderstandings. The United States under the Biden administration will continue to recognize Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela, a decision made by the Trump administration in January 2019 as part of a broader effort to remove Nicolás Maduro from power. The sanctions will also continue, Blinken said, only they will be “more effective.”
In the case of Ukraine, things are no different. Blinken said the Biden administration will continue to train Ukrainian soldiers and send weapons to the Kiev government to maintain its position in the conflict with Russia. In 2017, Trump approved the sale of anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, a move the Obama administration has long hesitated to take.
“I hope to open a new chapter in German-American friendship and cooperation,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the opening day. “We will certainly discuss Nord Stream 2 with the new US administration as it is being viewed critically in America and also in parts of Europe,” he said. On the last day of his term, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Russia for the construction of the pipeline, which continues to cause discontent in many European countries.
Blinken’s position on the pipeline did not leave much room for interpretation. “I am determined to do everything possible to prevent the construction from being completed,” he said during the Senate hearings, emphasizing that Biden “will consider using any persuasive tool available to convince our friends and partners, including Germany,” not to go. go ahead with the project ”.
One of the most controversial foreign policy moves of the Trump era could not be missed at the Blinken hearing. What does the Biden administration believe the capital of Israel is? Another topic on which there isn’t much room for interpretation: Blinken said that both he and President Biden consider Jerusalem the capital of the state of Israel and have pledged to keep the U.S. embassy in the city. In 2018, Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that many commentators believed would lead to intense violence in the region, which has so far not materialized.
Blinken even mildly praised the Trump administration’s attitude towards China, saying in particular that the decision to treat Beijing’s treatment of Uighurs as genocide was the correct one. The new secretary of state said there will be a significant change in tactics toward China, but the US position will be no different: Beijing must be confronted across the board.
On the Iran issue, Biden vowed in the campaign that the United States would return as part of the Iran nuclear deal if Tehran agreed to reduce its uranium enrichment efforts, as agreed. Both Blinken and Avril Haines, the new US intelligence chief, have made it clear in recent days that the return cannot take place overnight and that the chances are high that it will never happen. “Honestly, I think we’re a long way from that,” Haines said during the Senate hearing.
How America Returns to the World
American foreign policy has always been an area in which new presidents have cautiously intervened, preferring to follow at least some of the measures taken by the previous administration. While some of the policies the Biden administration has chosen to pursue may be surprising, especially given the harsh way in which Biden criticized Trump’s foreign policy during the campaign, that doesn’t mean that the promise of America’s return to the global stage is empty of content.
In fact, course changes have already been announced at key points in the Trump administration’s policies. Biden immediately brought the United States back to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the World Health Organization after Trump chose to renounce both the agreement and membership in the WHO.
Additionally, in the early days of his tenure, Biden lifted Trump’s U.S. travel ban on several Muslim-majority states and announced that the U.S. would participate in Covax, the global initiative for the equitable distribution of COVID vaccines. to developing countries that cannot acquire them on their own. Trump has denied US involvement in the initiative.
During the hearings, Blinken also confirmed that the Biden administration will stop supporting Saudi Arabia in the war in Yemen, a decision that will satisfy many of Biden’s progressive critics in the Democratic Party who believe foreign policy was worked out. in the first days. The mandate is very little different from that of the previous administration and far removed from the moral obligations of the United States.
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