America, the friend no one wants anymore? Little difference between Biden and Trump

Analysts believed that President Joe Biden would repair his country’s transatlantic ties, but his behavior revealed something different.

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US President Joe Biden could not have had a more complicated debut in the United Nations General Assembly. His Tuesday speech was supposed to be the Democrat’s chance to remind the world that the four years of the “America First” policy, which his predecessor Donald Trump had embraced, are long gone and that greater cooperation is now in the offing. the nations with him at the head. However, your participation will be remembered for the opposite.

The press has been headlining “America Betrays Another Ally” or “Backstab from Washington” since August. There is a crisis of confidence in the face of the North American power that Biden, despite promising to correct it, only finished deepening.

It was not only the decision to leave Afghanistan abruptly, without consulting American allies, but the unapologetic criticism of Afghans who, according to Biden, “had no will to fight.” That ally, it should be noted, was the one who suffered the greatest American betrayal. To this must be added the marked differences in how to share vaccines against COVID-19. On the other hand, despite criticizing Trump’s tariffs, the Democrat kept almost all of them. And his Asian allies question his shelving the idea of ​​a return to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And even though those positions created annoyance, Biden didn’t stop.

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The American president decided to sign the Aukus (by the abbreviations of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States), a military alliance with Australia and the United Kingdom that spoiled a multimillion dollar business that France had agreed with Canberra. That “creeping stab,” as the French government called it, led to the fury of Paris. From the Elysee Palace they said that they learned of Washington’s plans an hour before the three nations signed the agreement, for which they have described everything as “high treason.”

“The behavior of the United States worries me. It is a unilateral decision, without information or consultation, which is very reminiscent of Donald Trump’s behavior, ”said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Little has changed in American foreign policy. Washington with Biden continues to make unilateral decisions without consulting its allies, just as Trump did. But the thing about the Democrat is much more serious, because it is incoherent and irresponsible given the current context. Biden has failed to measure the consequences of his actions and the impact they have on what he himself wants to avoid: the rise of right-wing populist extremism.

The deal with Australia embarrassed French President Emmanuel Macron as he is about to embark on a disputed reelection race. The main rival of the French president, the nationalist Marine Le Pen, is close in the polls and has taken advantage of Macron’s moment to show the “weakness” of the current government. Considering the importance of these elections for the future of Europe, it is surprising that Biden has not handled the situation with more caution.

The US president, however, has reacted indifferently to the entire crisis, trying to make people believe that everything is fine and that relations with France are “excellent”, despite marked displeasure from Paris. At the local level, the criticism is scathing, calling Biden lacking in prudence and strategic vision.

“What Biden’s foreign policy record shows is a man who behaves as if he knows much more than he does, who is overconfident in his own judgment in the face of contrary advice from experts. My hunch is that he is overcompensating for an intellectual inferiority complex, also manifested in his record, “said Peter Wehner, a contributor to The Atlantic.

But the Australian episode is not just causing repercussions in Paris. The entire European Union, as a bloc, showed its dissatisfaction with the US government. The EU ambassadors postponed preparations for the Inaugural Trade and Technology Council that was planned to be held with the United States on September 29.

“One of our members has been treated in a way that is not acceptable, so we need to know what happened and why,” said the President of the European Commission, Urusula von der Leyen.

The Aukus thing also has an impact in Asia. In China, political analysts say Biden has shown that he can do better than Trump when it comes to ruining ties with his allies. Added to the mockery of the Asian giant is the strength that Russia shines with its Collective Security Organization (CSTO), while the bloc of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is leaking.

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Biden’s job was to correct the course of Trump’s foreign policy. But, as journalist Fareed Zakaria puts it, the Democrat has “normalized” very questionable practices. What this administration has shown is that it is not a question of whether it is a Democrat or a Republican who is in charge: there is a hegemonic problem.

“EE. The US built an order and forced others to obey, and the fundamental conflict lies in this order and the unwillingness of other countries to follow it, “wrote journalist Yang Sheng in The Global Times from Canada.

And as long as Washington does not change the order of the game, there will be a consensus among central allies, such as Germany and France, to seek distance and develop their own agenda.

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